være

See also: väre

Danish

Alternative forms

Dialects

vare (Lollandsk, Sydfalstersk)
vere (Nordsjællandsk)

Etymology

All forms except the present are from Old Danish wæræ, waræ, from Old Norse vera, vesa, from Proto-Germanic *wesaną (“to be”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wes- (“to dwell, live, reside”). The present tense is derived from a different root: Proto-Germanic *izum, *izud, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁es- (“to be”), which is also the origin of English is, are, Latin sum, and German ist. In Scandinavian, the singular has taken over the stem of the plural (with -z- > -r-).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈvɛːʁə/, [ˈʋɛːɐ], [ˈʋɛːɒ̽]

Verb

være (present tense er, past tense var, perfect tense har været)

(copulative) to be (expresses identity between the subject and a predicative)
Kierkegaard er en berømt filosof.
Kierkegaard is a famous philosopher.
(intransitive) to be, exist (with an adverbial phrase and/or the dummy subject der)
På kontoret var (der) 15 ansatte.
There were 15 employees in the office.
(intransitive) to be (in cleft sentences emphasizing a noun phrase, with the dummy subject det and a relative clause)
Det er Anders der har spist kagen.
It was Anders who ate the cake.
(auxiliary) to be (passive perfect tense with the past participle)
Huset er bygget af træ.
The house is built from wood.
(auxiliary) to have (active perfect tense with the past participle of certain intransitive verbs)
Pigen er løbet væk.
The girl has run away.
Synonym: have (used with most words)

Inflection

Inflection of være

	present	past
simple	er	var
perfect	har været	havde været
passive	væres	—
participle	værende	været
imperative	vær	—
infinitive	være	—
auxiliary verb	have	—
gerund	væren	—

Note also archaic plural form ere (Vi ere - "We are")

Derived terms

derværende
indeværende
lade være
nuværende
nærværende
overvære
undvære
væremåde
væren
værested
være til
være ved

References

“være” in Den Danske Ordbog
“være,2” in Ordbog over det danske Sprog

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology 1

All forms except the present are from Danish være, from Old Norse vera, from Proto-Germanic *wesaną (“to be”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wes- (“to dwell, live, reside”). The present tense is derived from a different root: Proto-Germanic *izum, *izud, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁es- (“to be”), which is also the origin of English is, are, Latin sum, and German ist.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈʋæːɾə/

Verb

være (imperative vær, present tense er, simple past var, past participle vært, present participle værende)

to be

Derived terms

Terms derived from være

fravær
fraværende
gjenværende
nærvær

nåværende
overvære
samvær

velvære
værende
vær så snill

Etymology 2

From Old Norse viðra, probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weyd-.

Verb

være (imperative vær, present tense værer, simple past and past participle væra or været, present participle værende)

(archaic) to sense or feel
Jeg værer fiendtlighet mellom Ola og Per.
I can sense hostility between Ola and Per.

References

“være” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Noun

være n (definite singular været, indefinite plural være, definite plural væra)

an existence in a location
a place or location that someone or something can exist

Adjective

være

definite singular of vær
plural of vær

Verb

være (present tense er, past tense var, past participle vore, passive infinitive værast, present participle værande, imperative vær)

(pre-1938) alternative form of vere