быть — meaning in English

English meaning

• be verb To exist or to have a certain identity, quality, or state.
• ought verb Used to express what is the right or sensible thing to do, or what is likely to be true.

Senses

быть is used for these senses in English:

• be (rare, and, regional, chiefly, in the past tense) Used to link two noun clauses: a day of the week, recurring date, month, or other specific time (on which the event of the main clause took place) and a period of time indicating how long ago that day was. [from 15th c.]
• be Used to declare the subject and object identical or equivalent.
• be To occupy a place.
• be (in perfect tenses) Elliptical form of "be here", "go to and return from" or similar, also extending to certain other senses of "go".
• be To occur, to take place.
• be (now, usually, literary) To exist; to have real existence, to be alive.
• fall short (idiomatic) To be less satisfactory than expected; to be inadequate or insufficient.
• ought (auxiliary, formal, dated) Indicating advisability or prudence.

be — full definition

1. verb To exist or to have a certain identity, quality, or state.
2. verb Used with another verb to form continuing or passive actions.

Related Russian words