be
verb (used without object)
to exist or live.
be
1 American
[bee, bi]
/ bi, bɪ /
verb (used without object)
-
am,
present (1st person singular)
-
are,
present (2nd person singular), present (plural)
-
is,
present (3rd person singular)
-
was,
past (1st person), past (1st & 3rd person singular)
-
were,
past (2nd person singular), past (plural), past subjunctive
-
been,
past participle
-
being
present participle
-
to exist or live.
Shakespeare's “To be or not to be” is the ultimate question.
-
to take place; happen; occur.
The wedding was last week.
-
to occupy a place or position.
The book is on the table.
-
to continue or remain as before.
Let things be.
-
to belong; attend; befall.
May good fortune be with you.
-
(used as a copula to connect the subject with its predicate adjective, or predicate nominative, in order to describe, identify, or amplify the subject).
Martha is tall. John is president. This is she.
-
(used as a copula to introduce or form interrogative or imperative sentences).
Is that right? Be quiet! Don't be facetious.
auxiliary verb
-
am,
present (1st person singular)
-
are,
present (2nd person singular), present (plural)
-
is,
present (3rd person singular)
-
was,
past (1st person), past (1st & 3rd person singular)
-
were,
past (2nd person singular), past (plural), past subjunctive, past (2nd person singular), past (plural)
-
been,
past participle
-
being
present participle
-
(used with the present participle of another verb to form the progressive tense).
I am waiting.
-
(used with the present participle or infinitive of the principal verb to indicate future action).
She is visiting there next week. He is to see me today.
-
(used with the past participle of another verb to form the passive voice).
The date was fixed. It must be done.
-
(used in archaic or literary constructions with some intransitive verbs to form the perfect tense).
He is come. Agamemnon to the wars is gone.
verb (used with object)
-
am,
present (1st person singular)
-
are,
present (plural), present (2nd person singular)
-
is,
present (3rd person singular)
-
was,
past (1st person), past (1st & 3rd person singular)
-
were
past (2nd person singular), past (plural)
Be
2
American
Symbol, Chemistry.
Bé.
3
American
abbreviation
B/E
4
American
Or
b.e.
be-
5
American
B.E.
6
American
abbreviation
-
Bachelor of Education.
-
Bachelor of Engineering.
-
Bank of England.
-
bill of exchange.
-
Board of Education.
be
1
British
/ biː, bɪ /
verb
-
to have presence in the realm of perceived reality; exist; live
I think, therefore I am
not all that is can be understood
-
(used in the perfect or past perfect tenses only) to pay a visit; go
have you been to Spain?
-
to take place; occur
my birthday was last Thursday
-
(copula) used as a linking verb between the subject of a sentence and its noun or adjective complement or complementing phrase. In this case be expresses the relationship of either essential or incidental equivalence or identity ( John is a man; John is a musician ) or specifies an essential or incidental attribute ( honey is sweet; Susan is angry ). It is also used with an adverbial complement to indicate a relationship of location in space or time ( Bill is at the office; the dance is on Saturday )
-
(takes a present participle) forms the progressive present tense
the man is running
-
(takes a past participle) forms the passive voice of all transitive verbs and (archaically) certain intransitive ones
a good film is being shown on television tonight
I am done
-
(takes an infinitive) expresses intention, expectation, supposition, or obligation
the president is to arrive at 9.30
you are not to leave before I say so
-
(takes a past participle) forms the perfect or past perfect tense of certain intransitive verbs of motion, such as go or come
the last train is gone
-
the facts concerning (something) are of no importance
be-
2
British
prefix
-
(from nouns) to surround completely; cover on all sides
befog
-
(from nouns) to affect completely or excessively
bedazzle
-
(from nouns) to consider as or cause to be
befool
befriend
-
(from nouns) to provide or cover with
bejewel
-
(from verbs) at, for, against, on, or over
bewail
berate
BE
3
British
abbreviation
-
bill of exchange
-
(in the US) Board of Education
-
Bachelor of Education
-
Bachelor of Engineering
Bé
4
British
abbreviation
Be
5
British
symbol
B/E
6
British
abbreviation
be
7
British
abbreviation
be
Idioms
Grammar
See me.
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
amsimple
-
aresimple
-
issimple
-
have beenperfect
-
has beenperfect
-
am beingprogressive
-
are beingprogressive
-
is beingprogressive
-
have been beingperfect progressive
-
has been beingperfect progressive
Past
-
wassimple
-
weresimple
-
had beenperfect
-
was beingprogressive
-
were beingprogressive
-
had been beingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of be1
First recorded before 900; Middle English been, Old English bēon “to be” (akin to Old Frisian, Old High German bim, German bin, Old Saxon bium, biom “(I) am,” Old English, Old High German, Old Saxon būan, Old Norse būa “reside,” Latin fuī “(I) have been,“ Greek phy- “grow, become,” Old Irish boí “(he) was,” Sanskrit bhávati “(he) becomes, is,” Lithuanian búti “to be,” Old Church Slavonic byti, Persian būdan “to be”); see am, is, are 1, was, were
Origin of be-5
Middle English, Old English, unstressed form of bī by
Explanation
To be is to exist, or to take place. As Hamlet best put it: "To be or not to be, that is the question." The verb be is one of the most frequently used words in English, and it often takes the form of am, are, were, or was. When you make plans to meet someone later, you could say, "I'll be on the steps in front of the library," and when you talk about your goals, you might confess, "I want to be a movie star." It's a verb with a complicated history, stemming mainly from the Old English bēon, "be, exist, or happen."
Vocabulary lists containing be
Scrabble: Two-Letter Words
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Spelling Practice, Unit 8
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Spelling Practice 1, Unit 3
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The Fed seems to be facing two distinct scenarios.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 17, 2026
At 6-foot-3 with the route-running ability that once made scouts slack-jawed, he still possesses the skills to be a game-changing force at 24.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2026
Fed officials won’t be speaking publicly until after the decision.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 17, 2026
“It’s pretty surreal to be able to play with him again and just help him out the best I can,” Harrison said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2026
To join the Peace Corps, you must be at least eighteen years old, in good health, and a US citizen.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
"My motto is: Be healthy, be happy, be kind."
From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026
The “I’d Be Lyin’” singer added that she loves and supports small businesses “but you don’t get a free pass to treat people less than in your store just because you are a small business.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026
Be careful about extrapolating anything from today’s pricing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 11, 2026
Be my guest trying to come up with a plausible explanation for why the market’s major turning points would, prior to WWII, mostly avoid October, and then favor that month thereafter.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 6, 2026
“Don’t be mad at Father. Be mad at me,” I say, turning on the perch.
From "Will’s Race for Home" by Jewell Parker Rhodes
The partly neutralised 2° Bé. solution of this product yielded a reddish-grey coloured leather, the qualities of which were very similar to that yielded by Neradol D. 3.
From Synthetic Tannins by Georg Grasser
By using a bath composed of half-neutralised phenolsulphonic acid and quebracho extract in 7° Bé. solution, another piece of pelt was completely tanned in two days.
From Synthetic Tannins by Georg Grasser
Neradol D is a viscous liquid, measuring about 33° Bé., which is similar to extracts of natural tannins.
From Synthetic Tannins by Georg Grasser
The same result was obtained by first half neutralising the phenolsulphonic acid and then adding sulphited quebracho extract till a 5° Bé. solution was obtained.
From Synthetic Tannins by Georg Grasser
The solution is then evaporated, the residue dissolved in 600 c.c. hot water, and the chromium precipitated with a 40° Bé. solution of caustic soda.
From Synthetic Tannins by Georg Grasser
Khoury’s father, Amin J. Khoury, founded Wellington, Florida-based B/E Aerospace, an aircraft cabin interiors maker that was bought in 2017 for more than $6 billion.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 6, 2022
Rockwell Collins, a longtime supplier of radio and flight displays to Boeing, last year bought B/E Aerospace, the largest cabin-equipment supplier.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 16, 2018
He declined to reveal lavatory dimensions and added, in an email, that “there is currently only one supplier for lavs across all models of the 737 — B/E Aerospace.”
From New York Times ● Dec. 23, 2016
“In today’s environment, the goal is to fit as many seats in the cabin as possible,” said Tom Plant, the general manager for seating products at B/E Aerospace, one of the top airplane seat makers.
From New York Times ● Dec. 23, 2013
"B/E Aerospace may also guide below consensus," Stallard said.
From Reuters ● Oct. 18, 2010
What rotten luck for you that “The Grapes of Wrath” should not only have come out be- fore your book was submitted but should have so swept the country!
From Salon ● Oct. 15, 2024
Offering participants a discreet way to alert the moderator to their discomfort- for example by giving them remote buttons they can use to 'bring the researcher in' if need be- may be effective.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 15, 2023
Buteglute has given him his chance to be- to be- the most famous-ah- to do a good thing.
From Scientific American ● Apr. 20, 2023
My original encounter from the store got in line for her pic next, then be- came the photographer for the rest of the meet-and-greet.
From The Guardian ● Sep. 22, 2019
A little more, Davos Seaworth be- seeched the Warrior, bring her around a little more, show me her broadside.
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
Earlier Sergei Aksyonov, the Russian-installed head of Crimea, said air defence systems had been in action around a Kerch shipyard named after B.E.
From Reuters ● Nov. 4, 2023
"It was back in 2019 and I was sitting in my box room at home, quietly sulking and downloading application forms for jobs in PR," said the 48-year-old, who writes under the pen name B.E.
From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2023
The thriller is adapted from a book of the same name by B.E.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 14, 2023
It also features five commissions from the WNO: Atlanta composer B.E.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 12, 2022
Instead it was his father who did the talking, saying that the man had gone to St. Xavier’s, and then B.E.
From "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri
BE Semiconductor Industries, the Dutch supplier of semiconductor assembly equipment, is down 8.2% following a stock rating downgrade from UBS.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
BE Semiconductor shares trade 5.8% lower at 180.85 euros.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
Bloom Energy BE -11.34%decrease; down pointing triangle raised its fiscal 2026 revenue and adjusted earnings per share guidance, as second quarter sales and profit climbed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
YOU HAD TO BE HERE: By some estimates, the World Cup games here were outdrawn even by the demolition of the Cotton Exchange building downtown one Saturday morning.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 1994
They were hanging the family motto her dad had years ago stenciled onto scrap wood: LIVE, TRAVEL, ADVENTURE, BLESS, AND DON’T BE SORRY.
From "Book Scavenger" by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman
Bé Ù, a Vietnamese restaurant in Virgil Village, will be open Friday, but owner Uyên Lê said that’s because she does her community organizing work through the business.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 29, 2026
Bé Ù offered free meals in exchange for Huy Fong Sriracha sauce, and it got around 300 bottles during the promotion.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2023
Last summer, Uyên Lê, owner and chef at Bé Ù Vietnamese Street Food in East Hollywood, was scraping out her Sriracha bottles and trying to ration her supply.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2023
Opened last year, Le Grand Bé is a big, splashy, four-star addition to St-Malo’s historical walled center.
From New York Times ● Aug. 22, 2019
Bé listened to Wolf with a sad face, drawing garlands on a piece of paper which lay before him.
From The Awakening The Resurrection by Leo Tolstoy, Count
Obviously, I am not the right person to answer that question.
From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026
It’s been another busy week of news, and I, for one, am ready to take a breather.
From Slate ● Oct. 16, 2026
“I really am struggling to this day to understand exactly what I experienced in this,” Fielder admitted during a post-screening Q&A at Telluride.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026
"When you've got them from 4:00 to 5:00 pm, having started at 8:00 am, it's a struggle," he said.
From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026
“No, Not yet. I don’t know. Oh Betsie, why am I so frightened?”
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
As more transactions are carried out by AI assistants on behalf of shoppers, the e-commerce platform Shopify has has become “a real thought leader around agentic commerce,” Lane told MarketWatch.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 17, 2026
At least another 9,000 are hosting guests for 30 days or longer, allowing them to bypass many of the city’s regulations that apply to shorter stays.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2026
He explained that gold and silver are, for most people, discretionary purchases — in other words, more of a want rather than a need.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 17, 2026
The job requirements are straightforward if not hellacious: Work at the office in person from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2026
It is raining on the day of Joey’s graduation, but the stage at Carville is decorated with flowers and two chaplains are on hand to deliver remarks.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
There’s a relatively off-the-radar commodity that can provide hints on where the economy is headed — and it’s seen its value drop more than 50% from a record high earlier this year.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 17, 2026
But many economists think that the Fed meeting on Oct. 27-28 is a much closer call.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 17, 2026
Silver, meanwhile, is “reflecting some of the economic headwinds higher inflation is causing in the global economy,” said Dana Samuelson, president of American Gold Exchange.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 17, 2026
“I think October is a live meeting. We think the Fed will raise rates in October and December,” said Matthew Martin, U.S. economist at Oxford Economics, in an interview with MarketWatch.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 17, 2026
Tuberculosis is a feared disease during this period in history, with good reason.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
Silver rose slightly again on Friday, but was still down more than 6% on the week.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 17, 2026
For a player who hasn’t produced much since his selection as the No. 4 overall draft pick in 2024, it was an expensive price to pay.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2026
The consumer-price index rose 0.6% in September and gained 3.7% year over year, while the producer-price index was up 1.3% last month and climbed 6.3% year over year.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 17, 2026
To track down past exhibition objects was no mean feat.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2026
She was firm, but pious, and persuaded the captain that she was not a witch.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
Last month, tech looked like “the only place in town,” he noted, “while all these other areas were beat up.”
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 17, 2026
Back in March, when Blue Owl found itself at the center of the backlash against private credit, staff were told, “We’re going to emerge stronger from this storm.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2026
“They saw each other and there were some tears,” Boucher said, “quite a bit.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2026
The details of the conversation were first reported by Axios.
From Salon ● Oct. 17, 2026
Many nations in the Pacific Ocean and Southeast Asia were either ruled or occupied by Great Britain, France, the Netherlands, and the United States.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
For weeks, investors and Federal Reserve watchers had been expecting the central bank to hold interest rates steady when it meets later this month.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 17, 2026
Executives at the private-credit giant have been trying to reassure employees, yet Blue Owl stock is down about 67% from its record high in January 2025.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2026
Many of those customers have taken to social media to complain that the wait has been too long.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2026
“Now money is rotating out of tech into areas that had been really depressed.”
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 17, 2026
“How long has he been messing with the tableware?”
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
To be clear, Musk isn’t betting Tesla’s future on being a niche carmaker.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2026
Photographer Carlos Osorio documented the move, which involved whales being flown to Chicago, Atlanta, San Diego, San Antonio, and even Valencia, Spain.
From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2026
Far from being scared, Duwai said he shed a tear when they came back this year.
From Barron's ● Oct. 17, 2026
“It is cool being next to the other bigger lots like Sony and Amazon, only because it’s inspiring,” Tepper said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2026
He snorted, like it was me being ridiculous, and shuffled back into the shop.
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
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