be in English dictionary

Meanings and definitions of "be"

(intransitive) To occupy a place.
(intransitive) To occur, to take place.
(intransitive, without predicate) To exist.
(intransitive, without predicate) elliptical form of "be here", "go to and return from" or similar.
(transitive, copulative) Used to indicate that the subject and object are the same.
(transitive, copulative, mathematics) Used to indicate that the values on either side of an equation are the same.
(transitive, copulative) Used to indicate that the subject plays the role of the predicate nominal.
(transitive, copulative) Used to connect a noun to an adjective that describes it.
(transitive, copulative) Used to indicate that the subject has the qualities described by a noun or noun phrase.
(transitive, auxiliary) Used to form the passive voice.
(transitive, auxiliary) Used to form the continuous forms of various tenses.
(archaic) Used to form the perfect aspect with certain intransitive verbs. Often still used for to go
(transitive, auxiliary) Used to form future tenses, especially the future subjunctive.
(Should we delete ⁽⁺⁾ this redundant sense?) Used to indicate age.
(Should we delete ⁽⁺⁾ this redundant sense?) Used to indicate height.
(Should we delete ⁽⁺⁾ this redundant sense?) Used to indicate time of day, day of the week, or date.
(With since ) used to indicate passage of time since the occurrence of an event.
(often impersonal) Used to indicate weather, air quality, or the like.
(Should we delete ⁽⁺⁾ this redundant sense?) Used to indicate temperature.
verb

(intransitive, now literary)

To exist; to have real existence.
verb

With there as dummy subject: to exist.
verb

(intransitive)

To occupy a place.
verb

(intransitive)

To occur, to take place.
verb

(intransitive, without predicate)

elliptical form of "be here", "go to and return from" or similar.
verb

(transitive, copulative)

Used to name the age of a subject.
verb

(transitive, copulative)

Used to indicate that the subject and object are the same.
verb

(transitive, copulative, mathematics)

Used to indicate that the values on either side of an equation are the same.
verb

(transitive, copulative)

Used to indicate that the subject plays the role of the predicate nominal.
verb

(transitive, copulative)

Used to connect a noun to an adjective that describes it.
verb

(transitive, copulative)

Used to indicate that the subject has the qualities described by a noun or noun phrase.
verb

(transitive, auxiliary)

Used to form the passive voice.
verb

(transitive, auxiliary)

Used to form the continuous forms of various tenses.
verb

(archaic)

Used to form the perfect aspect with certain intransitive verbs, most of which indicate motion. Often still used for "[i]to go"[/i]
verb

(transitive, auxiliary)

Used to form future tenses, especially the future periphrastic.
verb

Used to link a subject to a count or measurement.
verb

(With since)

used to indicate passage of time since the occurrence of an event.
verb

(often impersonal)

Used to indicate weather, air quality, or the like.
verb

(African American Vernacular, Caribbean, auxiliary, not conjugated)

tend to do, often do; marks the habitual aspect.
Used to form the passive voice. (Indicates that the subject plays the role of the object.)
Used to form the subjunctive mode.
[Used to form the subjunctive mode.]
[Used to form the passive voice. (Indicates that the subject undergoes the action.)]
Connects a noun to an adjective describing a condition of it.
Connects a noun to an adjective describing an essential characteristic of it.
Connects an expression, noun, or noun phrase to another expression, noun, or noun phrase describing that their meanings are essentialy the same; such as in "one and one is two" or "a dirt road is an unpaved street or road"
be (somewhere)
be (formal, literary)
(to) become
(to) be
be (usu. of inanimate objects)
[Connects an expression, noun, or noun phrase to another expression, noun, or noun phrase describing that their meanings are essentialy the same.]
To have or occupy a given position or time point.
[used to indicate a period associated with an activity or process]
[Used to indicate that the subject has the qualities described by a noun or noun phrase.]
[Used to indicate that the values on either side of an equation are the same.]
[Used to link a subject to a count or measurement.]
To continue or remain as before.
To act the part of (a character) in a film or play.
To have the age specified.
To have the indicated price.
[(Often impersonal) Used to indicate weather, air quality, or the like.]
[Connects a noun to an adjective describing a transient characteristic of it.]
[Connects a noun to an adjective describing an essential characteristic of it.]
be (animate)
be (of animate objects)
occupy a place
occur, take place
exist
elliptical form of "be here", or similar
used to indicate that the subject and object are the same
used to indicate that the values on either side of an equation are the same
used to indicate that the subject plays the role of the predicate nominative
used to connect a noun to an adjective that describes it
used to indicate that the subject has the qualities described by a noun or noun phrase
used to form the passive voice
used to form the continuous forms of various tenses
(archaic) used to form the perfect aspect with certain intransitive verbs
used to form future tenses, especially the future subjunctive
used to indicate age
used to indicate height
used to indicate time of day, day of the week, or date
used to indicate weather, air quality, or the like
used to indicate temperature
To have existence.
verb

be identical or equivalent to; "One dollar equals 1,000 rubles these days!"
verb

be identical to; be someone or something; "The president of the company is John Smith"; "This is my house"
verb

be priced at; "These shoes cost $100"
verb

form or compose; "This money is my only income"; "The stone wall was the backdrop for the performance"; "These constitute my entire belonging"; "The children made up the chorus"; "This sum represents my entire income for a year"; "These few men comprise his entire army"
verb

happen, occur, take place; "I lost my wallet; this was during the visit to my parents' house"; "There were two hundred people at his funeral"; "There was a lot of noise in the kitchen"
verb

have an existence, be extant; "Is there a God?"
verb

have life, be alive; "Our great leader is no more"; "My grandfather lived until the end of war"
verb

have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun); "John is rich"; "This is not a good answer"
verb

occupy a certain position or area; be somewhere; "Where is my umbrella?"; "The toolshed is in the back"; "What is behind this behavior?"
verb

represent, as of a character on stage; "Derek Jacobi was Hamlet"
verb

spend or use time; "I may be an hour"
verb

to remain unmolested, undisturbed, or uninterrupted -- used only in infinitive form; "let her be"
verb

work in a specific place, with a specific subject, or in a specific function; "He is a herpetologist"; "She is our resident philosopher"

Synonyms of "be" in English dictionary

stay, typify, represent are the top synonyms of "be" in the English thesaurus.

stay · typify · represent · embody · equal · cost · personify · glucinium · make up · take · stand for · comprise · beryllium · remain · occupy · rest · exist · symbolise · live · constitute · atomic number 4 · symbolize · use up · metal · metallic element · follow · continue
equal
be identical or equivalent to; "One dollar equals 1,000 rubles these days!"
cost
be priced at; "These shoes cost $100"
constitute · represent · make up · comprise
form or compose; "This money is my only income"; "The stone wall was the backdrop for the performance"; "These constitute my entire belonging"; "The children made up the chorus"; "This sum represents my entire income for a year"; "These few men comprise his entire army"
exist
have an existence, be extant; "Is there a God?"
live
have life, be alive; "Our great leader is no more"; "My grandfather lived until the end of war"
embody · personify
represent, as of a character on stage; "Derek Jacobi was Hamlet"
follow
work in a specific place, with a specific subject, or in a specific function; "He is a herpetologist"; "She is our resident philosopher"

Antonyms of "be" in English dictionary

differ is the antonym of "be" in the English thesaurus.

differ

Grammar and declension of be

be ( highly irregular)
be, was, been; pełna odmiana

be (highly irregular) ;; Modern conjugation

	indicative		subjunctive		imperative
infinitive		to be
present participle/gerund		being
past participle		been
	singular	plural	singular	plural	singular	plural
present	I am (’m)	we are (’re)	I be	we be	—	let’s be
	you are (’re)	you are (’re)	you be	you be	be	be
	he/she/it is (’s)	they are (’re)	he/she/it be	they be	—	—
preterite	I was*	we were	I were**	we were
	you were	you were	you were	you were
	he/she/it was*	they were	he/she/it were**	they were

*Some non-standard dialects use were in these instances.
**Some non-standard dialects use was in these instances.

Archaic conjugation

	indicative		subjunctive		imperative
infinitive		to be
present participle/gerund		being
past participle		been
	singular	plural	singular	plural	singular	plural
present	I am (’m)	we are (’re)	I be	we be	—	let’s be
	thou art (’rt)	ye are (’re)	thou be/beest	ye be	be (thou)***	be (ye)***
	he/she/it is (’s)	they are (’re)	he/she/it be	they be	—	—
preterite	I was*	we were	I were**	we were
	thou wast	ye were	thou wert	ye were
	he/she/it was*	they were	he/she/it were**	they were

*Some non-standard dialects will have were in these instances.
**Some non-standard dialects will have was in these instances.
***It is optional to include the subject which is to be stated after the imperative.

The verb be is the most irregular non-defective verb in Standard English. Unlike other verbs, which distinguish at most five forms (as in do–does–doing–did–done), be distinguishes eight: Be itself is the plain form, used as the infinitive, as the imperative, and as the present subjunctive. I want to be a father someday. (infinitive) If that be true... (present subjunctive) Allow the truth to be heard! (infinitive) Please be here by eight o'clock. (imperative) The librarian asked that the rare books not be touched. (present subjunctive) Be is also used as the present tense indicative form in the alternate, dynamic / lexical conjugation of be: What do we do? We be ourselves. (first-person plural present indicative, lexical be) but: Who are we? We are human beings. (first-person plural present indicative, copula be) It is also an archaic alternative form of the indicative, especially in the plural[1]: The powers that be, are ordained of God. (Romans 13:1, Tyndale Bible, 1526) We are true men; we are no spies: We be twelve brethren... (Genesis 42:31-2, King James Version, 1611) I think it be thine indeed, for thou liest in it. (Hamlet, Act V, Scene 1, circa 1600) Am, are, and is are the forms of the present indicative. Am is the first-person singular (used with I); is is the third-person singular (used with he, she, it and other subjects that would be used with does rather than do); and are is both the second-person singular and the plural (used with we, you, they, and any other plural subjects). Am I in the right place? (first-person singular present indicative) You are even taller than your brother! (second-person singular present indicative) Where is the library? (third-person singular present indicative) These are the biggest shoes we have. (plural present indicative) Was and were are the forms of the past indicative and past subjunctive (like did). In the past indicative, was is the first– and third-person singular (used with I, as well as with he, she, it and other subjects that would be used with does rather than do), and were is both the second-person singular and the plural (used with we, you, they, and any other plural subjects). In the traditional past subjunctive, were is used with all subjects, though many speakers do not actually distinguish the past subjunctive from the past indicative, and therefore use was with first– and third-person singular subjects even in cases where other speakers would use were. I was out of town. (first-person singular past indicative) You were the first person here. (second-person singular past indicative) The room was dirty. (third-person singular past indicative) We were angry at each other. (plural past indicative) I wish I were more sure. (first-person singular past subjunctive; was is also possible, though considered less correct) If she were here, she would know what to do. (third-person singular past subjunctive; was is also possible, though considered less correct) Being is the gerund and present participle, used in noun-like constructions, in the progressive aspect, and after various verbs (like doing). (It's also used as an actual noun; for those senses, see the entry for being itself.) I don't like being here. (gerund) All of a sudden, he's being nice to everyone. (present participle in the progressive aspect) It won't stop being a problem until someone does something about it. (present participle in the progressive aspect) Been is the past participle, used in the perfect aspect. In Middle English, it was also the infinitive. It's been that way for a week and a half. In archaic or obsolete forms of English, with the pronoun thou, the verb be has a few additional forms: When the pronoun thou was in regular use, the forms art, wast, and wert were the corresponding present indicative, past indicative, and past subjunctive, respectively. As thou became less common and more highly marked, a special present-subjunctive form beest developed (replacing the regular present subjunctive form be, still used with all other subjects). Additionally, the form wert, previously a past subjunctive form, came to be used as a past indicative as well. The forms am, is, and are can contract with preceding subjects: I’m (“I am”), ’s (“is”), ’re (“are”). The form are most commonly contracts with personal pronouns (we’re (“we are”), you’re (“you are”), they’re (“they are”)), but contractions with other subjects is possible; the form is contracts quite freely with a variety of subjects. These contracted forms, however, are possible only when there is an explicit, non-preposed complement, and they cannot be stressed; therefore, contraction does not occur in sentences such as the following: Who's here? —I am. I wonder what it is. I don't want to be involved. —But you are involved, regardless. Several of the finite forms of be have special negative forms, containing the suffix -n’t, that can be used instead of adding the adverb not. Specifically, the forms is, are, was, and were have the negative forms isn’t, aren’t, wasn’t, and weren’t. The form be itself does not, even in finite uses, with “not be” being used in the present subjunctive and “do not be” or “don’t be” (or, in dated use, “be not”) being used in the imperative. The form am has the negative forms aren’t, amn’t, and arguably ain’t, but all of these are in restricted use; see their entries for details. Outside of Standard English, there is some variation in usage of some forms; some dialects, for example, use is or ’s throughout the present indicative (supplanting, in whole or in part, am and are), and/or was throughout the past indicative and past subjunctive (supplanting were).

BE
Meanings and definitions of "be"
- abbreviation
  
  Berlin, a federal state of Germany.
- abbreviation
  
  Bengkulu, a province of Indonesia.
- noun
  
  Bachelor of Engineering.
- noun
  
  (linguistics)
  
  Black English
- noun
  
  Buddhist Era
more
Grammar and declension of be
BE (countable and uncountable, plural BEs)
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Be
Meanings and definitions of "be"
- noun
  
  a light strong brittle grey toxic bivalent metallic element
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Synonyms of "be" in English dictionary

beryllium, glucinium, atomic number 4 are the top synonyms of "be" in the English thesaurus.
beryllium · glucinium · atomic number 4
a light strong brittle grey toxic bivalent metallic element
more

be in English dictionary

Meanings and definitions of "be"

Synonyms of "be" in English dictionary

Antonyms of "be" in English dictionary

Grammar and declension of be

Meanings and definitions of "be"

Grammar and declension of be

Meanings and definitions of "be"

Synonyms of "be" in English dictionary

Images with "be"

Sample sentences with "be"

Available translations

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