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Be

Table of contents

Translingual

Symbol

Be
symbol for beryllium


Balinese

be

  1. fish
  2. meat, fish, tofu , egg (everything that is eaten with rice exept vegetables)

English

Etymology

Old English beon . Be, been come from the root "become", am, is, are from the root "exist", was, were from the root "stay".

Conjugation

Present
indicative
Past
indicative
Present
subjunctive
Past
subjunctive
Iamwasbewere
thou (obsolete)artwastbewert
he/she/itiswasbewere
wearewerebewere
youarewerebewere
theyarewerebewere

Infinitive: to be
Past participle: been
Present participle: being
Imperative: be

Verb

Intransitive Verb

to be

  1. To occupy a place
    The cat is in the bag, it will still be in the bag tomorrow.
  2. To occur, to take place
    When and where is the test? It will be tomorrow, in room 5.
  3. To exist
    To be, or not to be, that is the question. — Shakespeare, Hamlet

Copular verb

to be

  1. Indicates that the subject and object are the same.
    Two plus two is four. or Two plus two are four.
    Ignorance is bliss.
  2. Indicates that the subject plays the role of the object.
    François Mitterrand was president of France from 1981 to 1995
  3. Connects a noun to an adjective describing it.
    The sky is blue.
  4. Indicates that the subject has the qualities described by a noun or noun phrase.
    The sky is a deep blue today.
    The street was a confusion of vendors and shoppers.

Auxiliary verb

to be

  1. Used to form the passive voice.
    The dog was drowned in the pond,
    i.e. someone killed the dog, as opposed to The dog drowned in the pond, where the dog died accidentially.
    The staff meeting will be held next Monday at 1:00.
  2. Used to form the continuous forms of the several tenses.
    The woman is walking.
    For how long had you been waiting before the bus came?
  3. Used to form the subjunctive mood.
    Be she more patient.

Translations

Caution This verb is fraught with irregularities of both form and usage in many languages. Strict literal translations should be viewed with suspicion.

  • Interlingua: esser, ser
  • Italian: essere
  • Japanese:
    • (auxiliary, copula) (da, informal), です (desu, formal)
    • (existence) 有る (ある, aru, inanimate); 居る (いる, iru, animate)
  • Latin: esse (usu. cited by its 1st p. sng. form sum)
  • Macedonian: сум
  • Norwegian: være
  • Polish: być
  • Portuguese: intransitive 1 ser, existir , 2 estar; copular 1~3 ser; auxiliary 1 ser (with passive voice), 2 estar (with active voice)
  • Romanian: fi
  • Russian: быть (byt')
  • Spanish: ser, estar (note : ser and estar are not employed in the same cases)
  • Swedish: vara

German

Prefix

be-


Hungarian

Coverb

be-, be

  1. in, into
    Beszálltam a kocsiba.

Latin

Alternative spellings

bee

interjection

be

  1. "baa", sound made by sheep

Lithuanian

Particle

be

  1. (shows absence of smth) without
  2. besides; but, except

Swedish

Verb

be

present tense be (bedja )
past tense bad
past participle bett
present particible bedjande


  1. ask for, request someone else to do something
  2. to pray
  3. to beg, to plead with someone for help or for a favor.



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08-19-2006 13:26:44