1

Bishop Robert Lowth, a prominent Hebraist and theologian, with fixed and eccentric opinions about language, wrote A Short Introduction to English Grammar (1762). Many schoolroom grammars in use to this day have laws of 'good usage' which can be traced directly to Bishop Lowth's idiosyncratic pronouncements as to what was 'right' and what was 'wrong'.

On page 36 he writes:

Verb To Be. Indicative mode.

Present time.

  1. I am, --------- We are
  2. Thou art,---- Ye are
  3. He is. ------ They are.

Or,

  1. I be, -------- We be
  2. Thou beest,-- Ye be
  3. He is;(8) ----- They be.

(8)"I think it 'be thine' indeed, for thou liest in it." Shakespear, Hamlet. Be, in the singular number of this time and mode, especially in the third person, is obsolete; and is become somewhat antiquated in the plural. "A short introduction to English grammar(1762).

Is "I be" still grammatically correct?

fev
  • 33,009
Sylomun Weah
  • 321
  • 1
  • 3
  • 8
  • Isn't this now just a duplicate of this? – tchrist Aug 19 '18 at 18:50
  • 1
    @tchrist♦: ....no. – Cerberus - Reinstate Monica Aug 19 '18 at 18:51
  • 1
    @Cerberus Then how ’bout this or this? – tchrist Aug 19 '18 at 19:01
  • 3
    I think "I be" is still used in some places, such as West Country dialects in the UK. See here for more: https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/93231/what-dialect-is-i-be-doing-this –  Aug 19 '18 at 19:02
  • 1
    @JamesRandom The OED calls this be or bees a sort of ancient habitual form still found in some regional varieties of English. Its ancient persistence in the West Country and its use in AAVE may or may not be related. Kipling wrote I bain't the ram-faced, ruddle-nosed old fule yeou reckon I be. and a hundred years later evverbody be jammin. – tchrist Aug 19 '18 at 19:06
  • Your rewording, while more detailed, is still unclear. You are right, those opinions are, in understatement, idiosyncratic. No one conjugates present indicative with cognate derivatives of 'be'. But there are some acceptable modern uses of 'I/you/he/we/they be' in present mandative ("I demand that the prisoner be released"). And of course the subtle 'present habitual' of AAVE. – Mitch Aug 19 '18 at 19:18
  • @JamesRandom though many uses of 'I be x' are ascribed to AAVE, they have entered Ame. I be: damned, eating, shit, gone, etc. – lbf Aug 20 '18 at 00:27
  • 4
    Does this answer your question? Can "I be" ever be considered correct? – Stuart F Feb 05 '21 at 16:17

1 Answers1

3

"I be" works fine in the subjunctive, but no where else: Mary requires that I be on time>

Bob Jones
  • 37
  • 1