be

Dictionary of American Words And Phrases by John Russell Bartlett.

(Ang. Sax. beo, 1st person sing. and 1st, 2d, and 3d plur. See Rask's Gram. p. 84), instead of am and are. Ex. Be you cold? Where be you going? This use of this word is confined to uneducated people. It is common in several of the provincial dialects of England. In the Bible it often occur instead of are.


Let them shew the former things what they be, that we may consider them.--Isaiah xli. 22.

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