be

/biː/

//biː// verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"be" is a 2-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“be” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #17) as a verb. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#17
frequency rank, English
4,121
“B” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - As an auxiliary verb:

Corpus desk

Index EN-be · be · English

be · rank #17 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-CORE #17
  • LEN-SHORT 2 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,121
  • PHOTO-FINISH was

Nearest frequency peer: was (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Frequency neighbourhood for “be”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “be” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

be vs by
50% similar
be vs bi
50% similar
be vs BS
0% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for be
PropertyValue
Headwordbe
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/biː/
Letters2
Frequency rank#17
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “be” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). be lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for be is neighbouring look-alikes ("by", "bi", …), not just typos; it is averb pronounced /biː/. Frequency #17 among 4,121 “B” headwords. 25 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

be has no tracked misspelling variants, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "by", "bi", "BS", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English been (“to be”). further etymology of be and its conjugated forms The various forms have three separate origins, which were mixed together at various times in the history of English. * The forms beginning with b- come from Old English bēo… The correct English form is be, spelled B-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    As an auxiliary verb:
  2. 2
    As an auxiliary verb:
  3. 3
    As an auxiliary verb:
  4. 4
    As an auxiliary verb:
  5. 5
    As an auxiliary verb:
  6. 6
    As a copulative verb:
  7. 7
    As a copulative verb:
  8. 8
    As a copulative verb:
  9. 9
    As a copulative verb:
  10. 10
    As a copulative verb:
  11. 11
    As a copulative verb:
  12. 12
    As a copulative verb:
  13. 13
    As a copulative verb:
  14. 14
    As a copulative verb:
  15. 15
    As a copulative verb:
  16. 16
    As a copulative verb:
  17. 17
    As a copulative verb:
  18. 18
    As a copulative verb:
  19. 19
    As a copulative verb:
  20. 20
    As a copulative verb:
  21. 21
    As an intransitive lexical verb:
  22. 22
    As an intransitive lexical verb:
  23. 23
    As an intransitive lexical verb:
  24. 24
    As an intransitive lexical verb:
  25. 25
    As an intransitive lexical verb:

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how be appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. The dog was saved by the boy.
  2. Study courses of Esperanto and Ido have been broadcast.

Etymology

From Middle English been (“to be”). further etymology of be and its conjugated forms The various forms have three separate origins, which were mixed together at various times in the history of English. * The forms beginning with b- come from Old English bēon (“to be, become”), from Proto-Germanic *beuną (“to be, exist, come to be, become”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH-yé-ti (“to grow, become, come into being, appear”), from the root *bʰuH-. In particular: ** Now-dialectal use of been as an infinitive of be is either from Middle English been (“to be”) or an extension of the past participle. ** Now-obsolete use of been as a plural present tense (meaning "are") is from Middle English been, be (present plural of been (“to be”), with the -n leveled in from the past and subjunctive; compare competing forms aren/are). ** Use of been as a past participle is from Middle English been, ybeen, from Old English ġebēon. * The forms beginning with w- come from the aforementioned Old English bēon, which shared its past tense with the verb wesan, from Proto-West Germanic *wesan, from Proto-Germanic *wesaną, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wes- (“to reside”). * The remaining forms (am, are, is) are also from Old English wesan (“to be”), Proto-West Germanic *wesan, from Proto-Germanic *wesaną, the present tense of which comes from Proto-Indo-European *h₁és-ti, from the root *h₁es-.

Synonyms

get

This word in other languages

ser(Español)être(Français)werden(Deutsch)ser(Português)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

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: As an auxiliary verb:
What words are commonly confused with "be"?
"be" is commonly confused with "by", "bi", "BS". 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 is the origin of the word "be"?
From Middle English been (“to be”). further etymology of be and its conjugated forms The various forms have three separate origins, which were mixed together at various times in the history of English. * The forms beginning with b- come from Old E... See the full etymology section above for more details.
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.

What to do next

You've looked up "be". Here's where to go from here.

  • "be" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "by". View pair
  • Usage frequency rank #17 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more English words in the "B" letter cohort. B–Z browse
  • PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list