there be
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]The expletive there, from Old English þær, to fill the first position in English's historic V2 word order.[1]
Verb
[edit]there be (highly irregular; see conjugation table)
- The specified thing exists, physically or abstractly.
- Synonym: there exist
- 1749, Anthony Ashley Cooper Shaftesbury, Characteristicks of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times, J. Baskerville, page 8:
- If there be any thing ILL in the Univerſe from Deſign, then that which diſpoſes all things, is no one good deſigning Principle.
- 1907, Southern Society for Clinical Investigation, The American Journal of the Medical Sciences, J.B. Lippincott, Co., page 627:
- Unless there be some lesion of the stomach, there is no blood, either microscopic or occult.
- 1988, John S. Doskey, William Maclure, The European Journals of William Maclure, →ISBN, page 204:
- There ought to be representation on the broad basis of population and public discussion with open doors and free debate. . . . Nor should there be any constraint upon the opinions of any of the members of the Diet or upon their right of publishing them, even though such would meet with opposition from without.
- 1996, Diane Meyers, Disaster Response and Recovery: A Handbook for Mental Health Professionals, →ISBN, page 75:
- There may be people with drug or alcohol problems who may go into withdrawal.
- 1999, Christopher Shays, “Hearing Before the Subcommittee on National Security, Veterans Affairs, and International Relationsof the Committee on Government Reform”, in Anthrax Immunization Program, →ISBN, page 35:
- I just want to know the truth, you are expressing your concerns, but I also want there to be some candor between us.
Usage notes
[edit]- When introducing more than one noun phrase, the verb often agrees with the number of the first noun phrase. Whether distinctions are made for pluralization can vary from one speaker to the next.
- There is a swing and a seesaw for kids.
- Non-finite forms (subjunctive, infinitive) nearly always break up the phase with to, i.e. there to be, as in e.g. “were there to be …” or “in order for there to be …”. However, it may not be considered a true infinitive, as, unlike the “to …” infinitive construction for typical verbs, there to be cannot be used as a standalone nominal infinitive (though there is a rare gerund there being) nor as an infinitive of purpose. (Examples of ungrammatical phrases: *There to be rain would be a reason to bring an umbrella; *There to be a big enough party, you must invite more people.)
Conjugation
[edit]Conjugation of there be
* Nonstandard. ** Singular. *** Plural.
Quotations
[edit]- For quotations using this term, see Citations:there be.
Translations
[edit]to exist
|
References
[edit]- ^ Leiv Egil Breivik and Toril Swan, The desemanticisation of existential there, in Christiane Dalton-Puffer et al. ed., Words: Structure, Meaning, Function, Walter de Gruyter, 2000.