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Can you help me to find out what kind of grammar is using here? "I be walking" is in which tense and what does it mean?

as far as i know, we can say "I am walking" "I was walking" but "I be walking" ??????

milad saedi
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    There are related questions here and also here – Margana Jul 03 '15 at 07:04
  • It's in the piratical. And '... what kind of grammar is using here?' is a non-standard middle usage. – Edwin Ashworth Jul 03 '15 at 11:04
  • "I be walking..." is the sort of phrasing that is at least caricatured as urban African-American vernacular (I don't know if it is "real" or not). The typical meaning would be "I was walking...". – Hot Licks Jul 03 '15 at 12:17
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    @HotLicks: I think i remember reading that in AAVE the "be" forms are used specifically for habitual actions, rather than progressive ones, so "I be walking" wouldn't be used in this context, but would be used to mean "I walk" (in general). I don't know if this is the case for all varieties, though. – herisson Jul 04 '15 at 23:49

3 Answers3

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"I be walking" is not standard English. But it is common in some varieties of English; most notably AAVE, where it is has a distinct meaning from "I walking".

Colin Fine
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  • Can you say what the meaning is then? – Mitch Jul 03 '15 at 12:23
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    The examples I've read tend to use working rather than walking, and I don't know if things are different for verbs of motion; but as I understand it, He working means he is at work at this moment, while he be working means that he has a job, or habitually works. – Colin Fine Jul 03 '15 at 12:31
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This statement seems ungrammatical to me. Perhaps it's slang meaning "I'd be walking down the street."

deadrat
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Vishnu Nair
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I suspect you have simply mis-heard. The usual sentence would be:

I'd be walking down the street with a friend and would answer a question.

chasly - supports Monica
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