Be

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Table of contents

1 Translingual 1.1 Symbol 2 English 2.1 Etymology 2.2 Conjugation 2.3 Intransitive Verb 2.4 Copular verb 2.5 Auxiliary verb 2.5.1 Translations 2.5.2 Translations 3 Hungarian 3.1 Coverb 4 Balinese 5 Latin 5.1 Alternative spellings 5.2 interjection 6 Swedish 6.1 Verb 7 Lithuanian 7.1 Particle

Translingual

Symbol

Be
(chemistry) symbol for beryllium

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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
I	am	was	be	were
thou (obsolete)	art	wast	be	wert
he/she/it	is	was	be	were
we	are	were	be	were
you	are	were	be	were
they	are	were	be	were

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

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. With present participle, indicates a continuing activity.

   The man is walking

2. In past tense with past participle, indicates a completed activity.

   The boy was killed.

3. In present tense with past participle, indicates a recurring activity.

   The staff meeting is held every Monday at 1:00.

Translations

• Bulgarian: съм
• Breton: bezañ, kaout
• Catalan: haver
• Dutch: zijn, hebben
• Esperanto: esti, havi
• French: être, avoir
• German: sein, haben
• Portuguese: ser, estar
• Spanish: haber

Translations

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

Breton: bezañ Bulgarian: съм Catalan: ser, estar Chinese: 是 (shì), 有, 在, 係 (hai6) (Cantonese) Danish: være, have Dutch: zijn, wezen (archaic, used in certain idioms and expressions) Ekspreso: esen Esperanto: esti Estonian: olema Finnish: olla French: être German: sein Greek: είμαι Hindi: होना

Interlingua: esser, ser Italian: essere Japanese: (auxiliary, copula) だ (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 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

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Hungarian

Coverb

be-, be

1. in, into

   Beszálltam a kocsiba.

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Balinese

be

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

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Latin

Alternative spellings

bee

Interjection

be

1. "baa", sound made by sheep

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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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Lithuanian

Particle

be

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

pl:be