be

A1 Topic:Grammar & Function Words

Also spelled aint, bean’t, ent, twarn’t, uz, wos, wosn’t, and wuz

US /biː/ UK [biː] See IPA manual

Homophones

bee /ˈbiː/

Minimal pairs

Sounds like v /v/ vs /b/

Freq #26

Meanings

1

verb
Used to describe or identify someone or something.

She is a teacher and her brother is a doctor.
2

verb
Used with another verb to form continuous tenses or the passive.

The dog was saved by the boy.
3

verb
To exist or be real.

I wondered whether ghosts could really be.
4

verb
To cost a particular amount.

How much is this jacket?

Verb forms

be, was / were, been irregular verb

Multiword verbs with be

be after Prepositional verb A1

to want or seek something with a particular aim in mind
be around Phrasal verb A1

to have experience of many people, places, or situations
be back Phrasal verb A1

to return to a place or become present there again
be on Phrasal verb A1

to appear as part of a television or radio broadcast

Thesaurus

Synonyms

3 verb · to exist or be real. exist

4 verb · to cost a particular amount. cost

More get

Word family

Derived forms abealbebe-erbeablebewarebewithbistgonnabeinter-bemaybemight-beto-be

Appears in

Phrases (4)

See all

be after
want or seek something with a particular aim in mind

Verb + preposition/particle
be back
return to a place or become present there again

Verb + adverb
be on
appear as part of a television or radio broadcast

Verb + adverb
been around
gained experience through encountering many different people, places, or situations

Verb + adverb

Idioms (28)

See all

it's a small world
used to express surprise at an unexpected connection or meeting
no free lunch
Matching variant: there's no such thing as a free lunch

everything has a cost; you cannot get something for nothing
tell it like it is
to describe a situation frankly, without softening or hiding the truth
that's another story
used to say a topic is separate and won't be discussed now
the rest is history
later events are already familiar or easily assumed, so they need no further telling
a matter of life and death
Matching variant: It's a matter of life and death

an extremely serious or urgent matter

Tongue twisters (5)

See all

A Tutor Who Tooted
A tutor, who tooted a flute, tried to tutor two tooters to toot. Said the two to the tutor: “Is it harder to toot, or tutor two tooters to toot?”

Keep toot, tooted and tooters distinct while maintaining the long vowel. Tutor varies by accent, so it need not begin exactly like toot.
Betty Botter
Betty Botter bought some butter. “But,” she said, “this butter’s bitter; If I put it in my batter, It will make my batter bitter; But a bit of better butter Will but make my batter better.” So she bought a bit of butter Better than the bitter butter, And made her bitter batter better. So it was better Betty Botter Bought a bit of better butter.

Compare the vowels in bit, better, batter and butter while keeping /b/ steady. Use your normal accent for the middle consonant of Betty, ...
Billy Button
Billy Button bought a buttered biscuit. Did Billy Button buy a buttered biscuit? If Billy Button bought a buttered biscuit, Where's the buttered biscuit Billy Button bought?

Keep the repeated /b/ clear without adding a vowel before it. Bought and buy change between lines, so follow the wording as well as the r...
Peter Piper
Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. Did Peter Piper pick a peck of pickled peppers? If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, Where's the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?

Close both lips for each /p/, and keep the end of picked distinct from pick. Start one line at a time before joining the four lines.
Walter Waddle
Walter Waddle won a walking wager. Did Walter Waddle win a walking wager? If Walter Waddle won a walking wager, Where's the walking wager Walter Waddle won?

Round the lips briefly for /w/, then move into each vowel. Notice the change from won to win in the question.

Etymology

From Middle English been (“to be”). See below for more. Further etymology of be and its conjugated forms The various forms have three separate origins, which were mixed together at various times in the history of English. * The forms beginning with b- come from Old English bēon (“to be, become”), from Proto-Germanic *beuną (“to be, exist, come to be, become”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH-yé-ti (“to grow, become, come into being, appear”), from the root *bʰuH-. In particular: ** Now-dialectal use of been as an infinitive of be is either from Middle English been (“to be”) or an extension of t…

*bʰuH- Proto-Indo-European been Middle English bēon Old English *beuną Proto-Germanic *bʰuHyéti Proto-Indo-European ġebēon Old English *wesan Proto-West Germanic *wesaną Proto-Germanic *h₂wes- Proto-Indo-European wesan Old English *h₁ésti Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Grammar & Function Words

External links

# be

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A1
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /biː/
**IPA (UK):** [biː]
**Frequency rank:** 26

## Meanings
1. Used to describe or identify someone or something.
2. Used with another verb to form continuous tenses or the passive.
3. To exist or be real.
4. To cost a particular amount.

## Examples
- She is a teacher and her brother is a doctor.
- The dog was saved by the boy.
- I wondered whether ghosts could really be.
- How much is this jacket?

## Synonyms
- get

## Derived Forms
- abe
- albe
- be-er
- beable
- beware
- bewith
- bist
- gonnabe
- inter-be
- maybe
- might-be
- to-be

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *bʰuH-
- Root: been
- Root: bēon
- Root: *beuną
- Root: *bʰuHyéti
- Root: ġebēon
- Root: *wesan
- Root: *wesaną
- Root: *h₂wes-
- Root: wesan
- Root: *h₁ésti

## Etymology
From Middle English been (“to be”). See below for more. Further etymology of be and its conjugated forms The various forms have three separate origins, which were mixed together at various times in the history of English. * The forms beginning with b- come from Old English bēon (“to be, become”), from Proto-Germanic *beuną (“to be, exist, come to be, become”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH-yé-ti (“to grow, become, come into being, appear”), from the root *bʰuH-. In particular: ** Now-dialectal use of been as an infinitive of be is either from Middle English been (“to be”) or an extension of t…

## AI Etymology
Be comes from Middle English been (“to be”). See below for more. Further etymology of be and its conjugated forms The various forms have three separate origins, which were mixed together at various times in the history of English.; The forms beginning with b- come from Old English bēon (“to be, become”), from Proto-Germanic *beuną (“to be, exist, come to be, become”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH-yé-ti (“to grow, become, come into being, appear”), from the root *bʰuH-.

## Topics
- Grammar & Function Words

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be

Meanings

Verb forms

Multiword verbs with be

Thesaurus

Appears in

Phrases (4)

Idioms (28)

Tongue twisters (5)

Etymology

Topics

External links

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