Wiktionary

there be

English edit

Etymology edit

The expletive there, from Old English þær, to fill the first position in English's historic V2 word order.[1]

Verb edit

there be (highly irregular; see conjugation table)

  1. The specified thing exists, physically or abstractly.
    Synonym: there exist
    • 1749, Anthony Ashley Cooper Shaftesbury, Characteristicks of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times, J. Baskerville, page 8:
      If there be any thing ILL in the Univerſe from Deſign, then that which diſpoſes all things, is no one good deſigning Principle.
    • 1907, Southern Society for Clinical Investigation, The American Journal of the Medical Sciences, J.B. Lippincott, Co., page 627:
      Unless there be some lesion of the stomach, there is no blood, either microscopic or occult.
    • 1988, John S. Doskey, William Maclure, The European Journals of William Maclure, →ISBN, page 204:
      There ought to be representation on the broad basis of population and public discussion with open doors and free debate. . . . Nor should there be any constraint upon the opinions of any of the members of the Diet or upon their right of publishing them, even though such would meet with opposition from without.
    • 1996, Diane Meyers, Disaster Response and Recovery: A Handbook for Mental Health Professionals, →ISBN, page 75:
      There may be people with drug or alcohol problems who may go into withdrawal.
    • 1999, Christopher Shays, “Hearing Before the Subcommittee on National Security, Veterans Affairs, and International Relationsof the Committee on Government Reform”, in Anthrax Immunization Program, →ISBN, page 35:
      I just want to know the truth, you are expressing your concerns, but I also want there to be some candor between us.

Usage notes edit

  • When introducing more than one noun phrase, the verb agrees with the number of the first noun phrase.
    There is a swing and a seesaw for kids.

Conjugation edit

Conjugation of there be
infinitive —
present tense past tense
1st-person singular——
2nd-person singular ——
3rd-person singular there is, there's there was
plural there are, there're, there's* there were
subjunctive there be there were
imperative —
participles there being there has been**, there have been***
* Nonstandard. ** Singular. *** Plural.

Quotations edit

Translations edit

References edit

  1. ^ Leiv Egil Breivik and Toril Swan, The desemanticisation of existential there, in Christiane Dalton-Puffer et al. ed., Words: Structure, Meaning, Function, Walter de Gruyter, 2000.

Anagrams edit

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