"be" meaning in All languages combined

See be on Wiktionary

Verb [English]

IPA: /biː/ Audio: en-us-be.ogg [US], en-uk-to be.ogg [UK] Forms: be [canonical], am, is, are [present], was, were [past], been [past, participle], being [present, participle]
Head templates: {{verb3|be|am|is|are|was|were|been|being}} [POS TABLE]
  1. This verb tells us that a thing is present, or in a place.
    Sense id: simple-be-en-verb-9P1m9sWy
  2. Happen.
    Sense id: simple-be-en-verb-Vb2W7p8G
  3. Go somewhere; visit someone (only in the perfect tense).
    Sense id: simple-be-en-verb-lCB4vcb7
  4. A verb we use when describing.
    Sense id: simple-be-en-verb-x9vby0fz
  5. Act like someone or something.
    Sense id: simple-be-en-verb-W-fp6awt
  6. We use a form of be and a gerund-participle to make progressive aspect.
    Sense id: simple-be-en-verb-yfb4l820
{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "be",
      "tags": [
        "canonical"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "am, is, are",
      "tags": [
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "was, were",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "been",
      "tags": [
        "past",
        "participle"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "being",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "participle"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "be",
        "2": "am",
        "3": "is",
        "4": "are",
        "5": "was",
        "6": "were",
        "7": "been",
        "8": "being"
      },
      "expansion": "[POS TABLE]",
      "name": "verb3"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The book is on the table."
        },
        {
          "text": "There was someone in the room."
        },
        {
          "text": "Were you at the party?"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "This verb tells us that a thing is present, or in a place."
      ],
      "id": "simple-be-en-verb-9P1m9sWy",
      "raw_tags": [
        "auxiliary",
        "linking"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The party was on Saturday."
        },
        {
          "text": "The next meeting will be here."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Happen."
      ],
      "id": "simple-be-en-verb-Vb2W7p8G",
      "raw_tags": [
        "auxiliary",
        "linking"
      ]
    },
    {
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "I've never been to Disneyland."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Go somewhere; visit someone (only in the perfect tense)."
      ],
      "id": "simple-be-en-verb-lCB4vcb7"
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The book is blue."
        },
        {
          "text": "They were sad about losing the match."
        },
        {
          "text": "John is 35 years old this year."
        },
        {
          "text": "I'm fine."
        },
        {
          "text": "He'd like to be a doctor."
        },
        {
          "text": "The film was terrible!"
        },
        {
          "text": "The book is 5 euro."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A verb we use when describing."
      ],
      "id": "simple-be-en-verb-x9vby0fz",
      "raw_tags": [
        "auxiliary",
        "linking"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Look, Mummy! I'm being a dog! Woof, woof!"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Act like someone or something."
      ],
      "id": "simple-be-en-verb-W-fp6awt",
      "raw_tags": [
        "auxiliary",
        "linking"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "He is sitting on the chair."
        },
        {
          "text": "I've been waiting for half an hour."
        },
        {
          "text": "They will be leaving on Tuesday."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "We use a form of be and a gerund-participle to make progressive aspect."
      ],
      "id": "simple-be-en-verb-yfb4l820",
      "raw_tags": [
        "auxiliary"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/biː/"
    },
    {
      "sampa": "/bi:/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-be.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-uk-to be.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    },
    {
      "homophones": [
        "bee"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "be"
}
{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "be",
      "tags": [
        "canonical"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "am, is, are",
      "tags": [
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "was, were",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "been",
      "tags": [
        "past",
        "participle"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "being",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "participle"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "be",
        "2": "am",
        "3": "is",
        "4": "are",
        "5": "was",
        "6": "were",
        "7": "been",
        "8": "being"
      },
      "expansion": "[POS TABLE]",
      "name": "verb3"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "Auxiliary verbs",
        "Linking verbs"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The book is on the table."
        },
        {
          "text": "There was someone in the room."
        },
        {
          "text": "Were you at the party?"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "This verb tells us that a thing is present, or in a place."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "auxiliary",
        "linking"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "Auxiliary verbs",
        "Linking verbs"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The party was on Saturday."
        },
        {
          "text": "The next meeting will be here."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Happen."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "auxiliary",
        "linking"
      ]
    },
    {
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "I've never been to Disneyland."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Go somewhere; visit someone (only in the perfect tense)."
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "Auxiliary verbs",
        "Linking verbs"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The book is blue."
        },
        {
          "text": "They were sad about losing the match."
        },
        {
          "text": "John is 35 years old this year."
        },
        {
          "text": "I'm fine."
        },
        {
          "text": "He'd like to be a doctor."
        },
        {
          "text": "The film was terrible!"
        },
        {
          "text": "The book is 5 euro."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A verb we use when describing."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "auxiliary",
        "linking"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "Auxiliary verbs",
        "Linking verbs"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Look, Mummy! I'm being a dog! Woof, woof!"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Act like someone or something."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "auxiliary",
        "linking"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "Auxiliary verbs"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "He is sitting on the chair."
        },
        {
          "text": "I've been waiting for half an hour."
        },
        {
          "text": "They will be leaving on Tuesday."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "We use a form of be and a gerund-participle to make progressive aspect."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "auxiliary"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/biː/"
    },
    {
      "sampa": "/bi:/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-be.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-uk-to be.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    },
    {
      "homophones": [
        "bee"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "be"
}

Download raw JSONL data for be meaning in All languages combined (2.2kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-21 from the simplewiktionary dump dated 2024-12-20 using wiktextract (d8cb2f3 and 4e554ae). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.