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to be or what??

Strangely, the most commonly used verb in any language - "to be" - is often highly irregular. A quick look in English: I am, you/they/we are, thou art, he/she is. Past tense: I/he/she was, you/they/we were. Past participle: been.

Just like "to go," which I have already covered, this is a case of multiple verbs for similar things getting all mashed up together. It's so confusing, you can find etymologies that simply refer to the original verbs as the A-Root, the W-Root, the S-Root and the B-Root.

The A-Root, from Old English aron, survives in am, are, and art. Some sources mix this in with the S-Root, but it seems a likely blend either way.

The B-Root, from Old English beon, survives in be, been and being. The forms I beo, thou bist (still current in German), he/she bith, we/they beoth are gone.

The S-Root, from Old English sindon, survives only in "is". We/they sind (still current in German) is gone.

 The W-Root, from Old English wesan, survives in were and was. The forms I wese, he/she wesst, we/they wesath (etc) are gone.

Originally, these verbs had slightly different meanings (shades of existing, remaining, dwelling or becoming) but they merged anyway. And as wild as this seems, for a verb so central to conversation, similar irregularities exist in Norse and other related languages ... "to be" is not content to be, it's more like having leftovers for dinner.

Link: http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/beon-wesan

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