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The Verb béon ("to be")

The verb béon occurs frequently enough in texts that it makes sense to learn it early in the course, even though it's completely "irregular" and unlike any other Old English verb. Notice, for example, that it's impossible to understand the connection between "been" and "was" as a sound change similar to that from "sung" to "sang." This is because the verb is actually cobbled together out of three different Indo-European verbs--the whole thing is a total mess, in fact, and does not respond easily to analysis. On the other hand, it's pretty much like Modern English in that respect, so the necessity for memorization isn't too terrible (for English speakers, anyway).

You should learn this verb--since it's your first verb in Old English--together with the personal pronouns (I, she, etc.). There are two reasons for this: it will help you to make sense of what would otherwise be a fairly dry table, and it will kill two birds with one stone. For the first of these reasons, I recommend that you make a habit of learning all the other verb conjugations in the course together with the personal pronouns.

Present of the Verb béon and the Personal Pronouns

The personal pronouns are also fairly similar to Modern English (in fact, so similar that they're one of the places where beginners have to watch their pronunciation), but there are a couple of places where there's been some change in the language in this central area.

Take a look at the following table:

ic eomI am
þú eartthou art (i.e. you are sing)
héo, hé, hit isshe, he, it is
wé sindon (sind, sint)we are
gé sindon (sind, sint)you are pl
híe sindon (sind, sint)they are

It shows the conjugation of the verb béon in the present, one of only two tenses in Old English (to give some encouragement to those who have suffered over the passé simple, passé composé, imparfait, plus-que-parfait, and so on!).

Things to notice:

Past of the Verb béon with the Personal Pronouns

The past tense of the verb, usually called the "preterite," is as follows:

ic wæsI was
þú wærethou wert (i.e. you were sing)
héo, hé, hit wæsshe, he, it was
wé wæronwe were
gé wæronyou werepl
híe wæronthey were

Learning the Verb Conjugations the Old-fashioned Way

If I can recommend an old-fashioned method of learning here, it does help some students to develop a little chant from verb conjugations, and to say, for example, "ic wæs, þú wære, héo, hé, hit wæs, wé wæron, gé wæron, híe wæron" over and over again until the connection between subject and the form of the verb becomes ingrained. You can bet that this way of learning is at least a thousand years old and that Anglo-Saxon children repeated their Latin conjugations in just the way it was done in schools until recently: "amo, amas, amat, amamus, amatis, amant." Of course, other people run screaming from the room long before any "ingraining" takes place! Just find the way of learning that suits you.


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Contact: Murray McGillivray at mmcgilli@acs.ucalgary.ca or the Listserv at mailto:eg401-m@acs.ucalgary.ca