be

Plural: bes

Noun

a light strong brittle grey toxic bivalent metallic element
The name of the Cyrillic script letter Б / б

Verb

Verb Forms: being, been, am, is, are, was, were

To exist, occur, or take place.
have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)
be identical to; be someone or something
occupy a certain position or area; be somewhere
- "What is behind this behavior?"
have an existence, be extant
happen, occur, take place
be identical or equivalent to
form or compose
- "These constitute my entire belonging"
work in a specific place, with a specific subject, or in a specific function
represent, as of a character on stage
spend or use time
- "I may be an hour"
have life, be alive
to remain unmolested, undisturbed, or uninterrupted -- used only in infinitive form
- "let her be"
be priced at
As an auxiliary verb:
Used with past participles of verbs to form the passive voice.
As an auxiliary verb:
Used with present participles of verbs to form the continuous aspect.
As an auxiliary verb:
Used with to-infinitives of verbs to express intent, obligation, appropriateness, or relative future occurrence.
As an auxiliary verb:
Used with past participles of certain intransitive verbs to form the perfect aspect.
As an auxiliary verb:
To tend to do, often do; marks the habitual aspect.
As a copulative verb:
To exist.
As a copulative verb:
Used to declare the subject and object identical or equivalent.
As a copulative verb:
Used to indicate that a predicate nominal applies to the subject.
As a copulative verb:
Used to indicate that the subject has the qualities described by an adjective or prepositional phrase.
As a copulative verb:
Used to indicate that the subject has the qualities described by a noun or noun phrase.
As a copulative verb:
Used to link a subject to a measurement.
As a copulative verb:
Used to state the age of a subject in years.
As a copulative verb:
Used to indicate the time of day.
As a copulative verb:
Used to indicate passage of time since the occurrence of an event.
As a copulative verb:
Used to link two noun clauses: a day of the week, recurring date, month, or other specific time (on which the event of the main clause took place) and a period of time indicating how long ago that day was.
As a copulative verb:
To pass or spend (time).
As a copulative verb:
To take a period of time.
As a copulative verb:
Used to indicate ambient conditions such as weather, light, noise or air quality.
As a copulative verb:
To exist or behave in a certain way.
As an intransitive lexical verb:
To exist; to have real existence, to be alive.
As an intransitive lexical verb:
To remain undisturbed in a certain state or situation.
As an intransitive lexical verb:
To occupy a place.
As an intransitive lexical verb:
To occur, to take place.
As an intransitive lexical verb:
Elliptical form of "be here", "go to and return from" or similar, also extending to certain other senses of "go".

Prep

Alternative form of by. Also found in compounds, especially oaths, e.g. begorra.

Examples

"What do we do?" "We be ourselves."
(or, dialectally:) It is just one woman in town who can help us.
3 times 5 is fifteen.
A dog is an animal.
Dinner will be ten minutes.
Dogs are animals.
François Mitterrand was president of France from 1981 to 1995.
He is come.
He is finished.
He is gone.
He’s about 6 feet tall.
Hi, I’m Jim.
How were they to know the whole exercise was a ruse?
I am 75 kilograms.
I am to leave tomorrow.
I have been to Spain many times.
I have terrible constipation – I haven't been for several days.
I saw her Monday was a week: I saw her a week ago last Monday (a week before last Monday).
I shall be writing to you soon.
I'd been to've been ambassador, but fell seriously ill.
It had been six days since his departure, when I received a letter from him.
It has been three years since my grandmother died. (similar to "My grandmother died three years ago", but emphasizes the intervening period)
It is almost eight (o’clock).
It is hot in Arizona, but it is not usually humid.
It was an hour before he returned.
It’s 8:30 [read eight-thirty] in Tokyo.
I’m 20 (years old).
I’ve been into town this morning.
Just be yourself.
Leave us be until the guests arrive.
Let them be for a few hours.
On the morning of Sunday was fortnight before Christmas: on the morning of the Sunday that was two weeks before the Sunday prior to Christmas.
Rex is a dog.
That was the week that was.
The cup is on the table.
The dog was saved by the boy.
The postman has been today, but my tickets have still not yet come.
The sky is a deep blue today.
The sky is blue.
The Universe has no explanation: it just is.
The woman is walking.
There is just one woman in town who can help us.
These four are the ones going to the quarter-finals.
They are to stay here until I return.
They were to have been married overseas but COVID forced a change of plans.
This building is three hundred years old.
This is how we do it.
This is something that was meant to be.
To BE or not to BE on a triple-word score, that is the question.
We liked to chat while we were eating.
We've been about twenty miles.
What time is it there? It’s night.
When will the meeting be?
Why is he being nice to me?
Why is it so dark in here?

Origin / Etymology

From Middle English been (“to be”).
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 the past participle.
** Now-obsolete use of been as a plural present tense (meaning "are") is from Middle English been, be (present plural of been (“to be”), with the -n leveled in from the past and subjunctive; compare competing forms aren/are).
** Use of been as a past participle is from Middle English been, ybeen, from Old English ġebēon.
* The forms beginning with w- come from the aforementioned Old English bēon, which shared its past tense with the verb wesan, from Proto-West Germanic *wesan, from Proto-Germanic *wesaną, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wes- (“to reside”).
* The remaining forms (am, are, is) are also from Old English wesan (“to be”), Proto-West Germanic *wesan, from Proto-Germanic *wesaną, the present tense of which comes from Proto-Indo-European *h₁és-ti, from the root *h₁es-.

Synonyms

atomic number 4, beryllium, comprise, constitute, cost, embody, equal, exist, follow, glucinium, live, make up, personify, represent, get

Antonyms

differ

Scrabble Score: 4

be: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
be: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
be: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 5

be: valid Words With Friends Word