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 #2 (permalink) Sat Sep 02, 2006 8:55 am Be |
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Hi Tamara,
Be as a prefix goes back to Old English and is inextricably part of verbs like begin,become, believe. Nowadays it is used as a method of turning an intransituve verb into a transitive one: bemoan, belie ...It can also turn nouns and adjectives into verbs: befriend, belittle, becalm ..It is often used in a casual impromptu construction as in: All the motorcyclists were bejacketed ...
Alan
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| #3 (permalink) Sat Sep 02, 2006 8:58 am Prefix 'be-' vs? (to) be plus verb |
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Hi Tamara
What about the phrase: unbeknownst to (me/you/him/us/them/etc.) ? :D
But, I've never in my life used the word bethink. Have you actually heard that word used in the UK?
I myself don't associate these sorts of words with the verb be at all. I've simply learned them as vocabulary.
Amy
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| #4 (permalink) Sat Sep 02, 2006 11:51 am Prefix 'be-' vs? (to) be plus verb |
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Hi
| Yankee wrote: |
| unbeknownst |
Hmm…
Thanks a lot… for your great attempt to twist my brains completely :)
Hopefully, (if I won’t take the wrong turning :)) in a couple of (next) years I will be able to understand that kind of English, as well.
| Quote: |
| …the word bethink. Have you actually heard that word used in the UK? |
No, Amy. To create the above list I just used a ('banal' :)) dictionary. ;)
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