Infinitive
been; to been; be
Participles
| Present | beynge; beende |
| Past | been; be; ybeen; ybe |
Indicative
Present
| 1st sing. | am; be |
| 2nd sing. | art; bist |
| 3rd sing. | is; bith |
| 1st plur. | aren; are; been; be; beth |
| 2nd plur. | aren; are; been; be; beth |
| 3rd plur. | aren; are; been; be; beth |
Past
| 1st sing. | was |
| 2nd sing. | were |
| 3rd sing. | was |
| 1st plur. | weren; were |
| 2nd plur. | weren; were |
| 3rd plur. | weren; were |
Subjunctive
Present
| 1st sing. | be |
| 2nd sing. | be |
| 3rd sing. | be |
| 1st plur. | been; be |
| 2nd plur. | been; be |
| 3rd plur. | been; be |
Past
| 1st sing. | were |
| 2nd sing. | were |
| 3rd sing. | were |
| 1st plur. | weren; were |
| 2nd plur. | weren; were |
| 3rd plur. | weren; were |
Imperative
| Singular | be |
| Plural | beth; be |
Verbs conjugated like been
been,
Etymology
From a conflation of Old English bēon and wesan, from Proto-West Germanic *beun and *wesan, from Proto-Germanic *beuną and *wesaną, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- and a conflation of *h₂wéseti and *h₁ésti. See: Proto-Germanic '
*beuną'.
Verbs referencing "been"
English
be, Scots
be, English
been, English
bein.
Sample Sentences
-
Forͬ fra þatt hıre make ıſſ dæd⹎ Ne kepeþþ ᵹho nan oþerr. Acc ſerrᵹͪeþþ aᵹᵹ forͬþı ꝥ ᵹho. Ne maᵹᫌ himͫ noƿƿhar fındenn (Because whenever her mate is dead, she doesn't get another, but always grieves since she can't find him anywhere.) [c. 1180, Orͬm, “Secundum Lucam .I. [Luke 1:5] / Secundum Lucam .II. [Luke 1:18]”, in Orͬmulum (Bodleian MS. Junius 1), Bourne Abbey, Lincolnshire, folio 20, verso, column 1; republished at Oxford: Digital Bodleian, 10 January 2019:]
-
I woot þi werkis · foꝛ nei[þer] þou art coold nei[þer] þou art hoot / I wolde þat þou were coold ei[þer] hoot (I know your actions: you aren't cold, but neither are you hot. I'd like it if you were either cold or hot.) [c. 1395, John Wycliffe, John Purvey [et al.], transl., Bible (Wycliffite Bible (later version), MS Lich 10.), published c. 1410, Apocalips 3:15, folio 118, verso, column 1; republished as Wycliffe's translation of the New Testament, Lichfield: Bill Endres, 2010:]
-
[…]Filip of Repintoun whilis he was a chanoun of Leycetre, Nycol Herforde, dane Geffrey of Pikeringe, monke of Biland and a maistir dyuynyte, and Ioon Purueye, and manye other whiche weren holden rightwise men and prudent[…] [1407, The Testimony of William Thorpe, pages 40–41:]
-
Sone ſo iudaſ of ſlepe waſ awake. / þritti platen of ſelu[er] from hym weren itake. (As soon as Judas had awakened from his rest, / Thirty pieces of silver had been taken from him.) [c. 1275, Judas (Roud 2964, Child Ballad 23, Trinity College MS. B.14.39), folio 34, recto, lines 16-17; republished at Cambridge: Wren Digital Library (Trinity College), 29 May 2019:]
Cognates
-