Word Confusion: Be versus Bee

Plural for the noun: be
Third person present verb: is
Past tense: was
Past participle: been
Gerund or present participle: being

See Conjugations below.

Plural for noun: bees

Bill of exchange, bill of entry

[College degrees] Bachelor of Education, Bachelor of Engineering

Bank of England

Board of Education

barium enema

Belgium (and its country code)

Noun:
See “abbreviations” and “prefixes“

Prefix:
A native English prefix formerly used in the formation of verbs

• [From nouns]:
  • To surround completely
  • Cover on all sides
  • To affect completely or excessively
  • To consider as or cause to be
  • To provide or cover with
• [From verbs] At, for, against, on, or over

Verb, intransitive:
To exist or live

To take place

• Happen
• Occur

To occupy a place or position

To continue or remain as before

To belong

• Attend
• Befall

[Used in the perfect or past perfect tenses only] To pay a visit

• To go

Verb, linking:
Used with the present participle of another verb to form the progressive tense

Used with the present participle or infinitive of the principal verb to indicate future action

Used with the past participle of another verb to form the passive voice

Used in archaic or literary constructions with some intransitive verbs to form the perfect tense

Used as a linking verb to connect the subject with its predicate adjective or subject complement, in order to describe, identify, or amplify the subject

Used as a linking verb to introduce or form interrogative or imperative sentences

Noun:
Any hymenopterous insect of the superfamily Apoidea, including social and solitary species of several families, as the bumblebees, honeybees, etc. ²

The common honeybee, Apis mellifera

Also called bee block ³

[Nautical] A piece of hardwood, bolted to the side of a bowsprit, through which to reeve stays

[Obsolete] A metal ring or bracelet

[Nautical] A small sheave with one cheek removed and the pulley and other cheek fastened flat to a boom or another spar, used for reeving outhauls or stay ⁴

A social gathering for a specific purpose, as to carry out a communal task or hold competitions ⁵

Those B/Es are becoming less popular what with online banking.

He graduated with a B.E., and he intends to go for a master’s.

All BE meetings are scheduled in advance.

Registering a .BE domain is the perfect way to show your business is localized in Belgium.

Noun:
See “abbreviations” and “prefixes“

Prefix:
Verbs created from nouns:

Roberts is not bedazzled by the red carpet.

They’re novels that befool almost every intelligence.

He gave wave of his bejeweled hand.

Verbs created from verbs:

The castle has been besieged for two years.

There were a dozen maidens, all bedaubed with paint.

He bewailed the fact that heart trouble had slowed him down.

Don’t berate the girl!

Verb, intransitive:
“To be or not to be.” – Shakespeare, Hamlet

“I think, therefore I am, not all that is can be understood.” – Descartes

The wedding was last week.

The book is on the table.

Let things be.

May good fortune be with you.

Martha is tall.

Is that right?

Be quiet!

Don’t be facetious.

Have you been to Spain?

My birthday was last Thursday.

Verb, linking:
I am waiting.

She is visiting there next week.

He is to see me today.

The date was fixed.

It must be done.

He is come.

Agamemnon to the wars is gone.

The BEE is intended to redress the inequalities of Apartheid.

Noun:
I’m allergic to bees.

Bees pollinate flowers and produce honey.

A cheek with a sheave in it is secured on the top side of the bees, on each side, to form a lead for the fore guys.

Plant a pollinator garden, build a bee block, or simply reduce your pesticide use.

Cam won at the Browns’ husking bee and kissed Amelia.

She won the school spelling bee.

We held a quilting bee last week at Margaret’s.

1. Unknown.
2. Middle English, Old English be-, bi-, is an unstressed form of bī.
3. Old English beon, beom, bion meaning be, exist, come to be, become, and happen come from the Proto-Germanic biju-, a b-root, meaning I am, I will be.

   This “b-root” (from PIE root bheue- meaning to be, exist, grow, and come into being) is represented by be and the am/was verb (itself a conglomerate).

   Both were two distinct verbs which merged to become the modern verb to be and has caused the to be being the most irregular verb and the most common in Modern English.

1. Unknown.
2. The first known use is before 1000.

   The Old English bīo or bēo or the Middle English be.

   It’s related to the Dutch bij; the Old Saxon bī or bini; the Old High German bīa, or bini; the German Biene; and, the Old Norse bȳ.

   It may be used with other suffixes: the Lithuanian bìtė, the Old Prussian bitte, the Old Church Slavonic b&icaron;chela, or the Old Irish bech.

3. The first known use is before 1050.

   The Old English bēag, bēah, the Middle English beh meaning ring.

   It’s related to the Old Frisian bāg, the Old Saxon, the Middle Low German bōg, the Old High German boug, the Old Norse baugr, and the Sanskrit bhoga-.

4. Old English bēag is related to the Old High German boug meaning ring, the Old Norse bogi meaning a bow.
5. Perhaps from the dialect bean meaning neighborly help, from the Old English bēn meaning boon.