Be or bee?
be is a verb meaning “Used with past participles of verbs to form the passive voice”; bee is a noun meaning “A flying insect, of the clade Anthophila within the hymenopteran superfamily…”. Use be as a verb and bee as a noun (be is also a noun: “The name of the Cyrillic script letter Б / б”). They sound the same (/ˈbiː/). In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) be is about 501 times as common as bee.
What is the difference between be and bee?
| be | bee | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | verb, preposition, noun, adjective, prefix | noun |
| Meaning | Used with past participles of verbs to form the passive voice Used with present participles of verbs to form the continuous aspect The name of the Cyrillic script letter Б / б | A flying insect, of the clade Anthophila within the hymenopteran superfamily Apoidea, known for its organised societies (though only a minority have them), for… informalproscribedAny stinging flying insect, especially a wasp A contest, especially for spelling; see spelling bee |
| Example | The dog was saved by the boy | geography bee |
| Forms | am, 'm, was, are, 're, art | bees |
| Pronunciation | /ˈbiː/ [ˈbɪi̯] /ˈbɪ/ | /ˈbiː/ |
| In writing | 6,166 times per million words | 12 times per million words |
Sources: be and bee in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of be and bee
be
- 1
Used with past participles of verbs to form the passive voice
The dog was saved by the boy
- 2
datedAlternative form of by. Also found in compounds, especially oaths, e.g. begorra begad and bejesus
- 3
The name of the Cyrillic script letter Б / б
- 4
Initialism of Bachelor of Engineering
- 5
Initialism of board-eligible
- 6
Used with present participles of verbs to form the continuous aspect
The woman is walking
- 7
Initialism of breast expansion
- 8
Used with to-infinitives of verbs to express intent, obligation, appropriateness, or relative future occurrence
I am to leave tomorrow
bee
- 1
A flying insect, of the clade Anthophila within the hymenopteran superfamily Apoidea, known for its organised societies (though only a minority have them), for collecting pollen and (in some species)…
- 2
A contest, especially for spelling; see spelling bee
geography bee
- 3
The name of the Latin script letter B/b
- 4
Any of the pieces of hard wood bolted to the sides of the bowsprit, to reeve the fore-topmast stays through
- 5
someone connected with Barnet Football Club, as a fan, player, coach etc
- 6
Initialism of Black Economic Empowerment
- 7
informalproscribedAny stinging flying insect, especially a wasp
- 8
A community gathering to share labour, e.g. a sewing bee or a quilting bee
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, be or bee?
be appears 6,166 times per million words; bee 12 times per million words.
be 6,166 times per million wordsbee 12 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).