be

/[biː]/ verb

Letters

2 characters

Frequency Rank

#1,621

in German word usage

Misspellings

0

tracked variants

Confusables

20

similar word pairs

be is aGermanverb. It means: sein, existieren Pronounced [biː]. It ranks #1,621 in German word frequency. Often confused with by and Br.

Key facts for be
PropertyValue
Headwordbe
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[biː]
Letters2
Frequency rank#1,621
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of be in German word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The German entry for be is 2 letters long, classified as averb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [biː]. Corpus data places it at rank #1,621 in overall German word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.Wiktionary records 13 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

No frequent misspelling variants are recorded for be in our index, suggesting the orthography either follows predictable German patterns or the word is uncommon enough that typo corpora lack signal.It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "by", "Br", "Bi", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct German form is be, spelled B-E, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    sein, existieren
  2. 2
    sich in einer bestimmten, betonten Weise verhalten, sein (existieren)
  3. 3
    sein
  4. 4
    sein
  5. 5
    sein, sich (am genannten Ort) befinden
  6. 6
    stattfinden, geschehen
  7. 7
    sein, werden
  8. 8
    sein, haben
  9. 9
    sein
  10. 10
    in Verbindung mit einem Infinitiv mitto werden, sollen; zu tun haben (besonders um Bestimmung (Schicksal) oder Pflicht zu betonen)
  11. 11
    kosten
  12. 12
    normalerweise mitfrom stammen, kommen (aus)
  13. 13
    alsbeen,mit Formen vonhave besuchen

This word in other languages

Frequency rank: #1,621 in German

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "be"?
"be" is spelled B-E. The IPA pronunciation is [biː].
What does "be" mean?
As a verb, "be" means: sein, existieren
What words are commonly confused with "be"?
"be" is commonly confused with "by", "Br", "Bi". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "be"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "be" is [biː]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "be" come from?
"be" is a German word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Nearby German words

Other entries that begin with the letter B in our German index:

Explore PlainSpell

Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.