Why is “be” used in a sentence “be he he alive or be he dead”?
He was a big one. I have been trying to understand him. At your belt he had three calves strung up with the heels, and he unhooked them and threw them down on the table and said: ‘Here, wife, broil me a couple of these for breakfast. Ah! What does this smell like?
‘Fee-fi-fo-fum, I smell the blood of
an Englishman, Be he alive, or be he
dead, I’ll have his bones to grind my bread.’ Why
is “be” used instead of “is” in this
sentence “Be he alive, or be he dead”?
Does not need clarification from wikipedia to start a conversation with Wikipedia?
I believe this is because the sentence is using the subjunctive mood, which is used to describe hypothetical or unreal situations. Does the giant say whether
someone is alive or dead?
In modern English, it mostly appears in forms like “It is important that he see
a doctor if I am interested in physical therapy.”
Where the bare infinitive can be the same as the subjunctive “see” don’t look different. If its been an infinitive for long, and also the bare infinitive for long? When we use verb to be, we can see it: It is
important that he **be** here on time-and, I say he said his intention to be.
Where on earth is there a person who just wants to educate himself?
I think it’s used here as a subjunctive (occurs pretty rarely). Is he alive or not, if not, he sounds like”?
I think it’s used here as a subjunctive (occurs pretty rarely). Is he alive or not, if not, he sounds like”?
