Be

How to spell be

2 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce be

What does be mean?

1. verbTo exist, to occupy a state or condition, or to serve as a link between a subject and its description.

Be in a sentence

• She wants to be on time for the morning meeting.

• He tried hard to be helpful during the move.

Where does be come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This is one of the oldest and most irregular verbs in English, descending directly from Old English bēon, meaning 'to exist' or 'to become'. It belongs to the Germanic family, but the modern verb is actually a patchwork built from several different ancient roots: the form 'be' itself traces to the Proto-Indo-European root bhū-, meaning 'to grow' or 'to come into being', while related forms like 'am', 'is', and 'was' came from entirely separate roots that were stitched together over centuries. This blending of unrelated stems is called suppletion, and it is why the verb looks so chaotic across its forms. The bhū- root also surfaces in distant cousins such as the Latin word for 'to be' and the English words 'future' and 'physics'. The spelling 'be' stayed short and simple because the word has been worn smooth by constant everyday use for well over a thousand years.

How the word is built

• be (single root verb, from Old English bēon 'to exist'; no prefix or suffix)

Words that sound like be

They sound the same but mean different things, so the meaning decides which spelling to write.

• bee: A flying insect with a furry body that collects nectar and pollen and can produce honey.