Invariant 'Be'

What is 'invariant be'?

The term invariant be (also known as habitual be and aspectual be) refers to a common feature of African American English in which the uninflected verb form be—that is, just plain be as opposed to forms of be like is or being—is used to indicate that something occurs frequently or habitually. Here are some examples of invariant be in use:

The kids be walkin’ (walking) to the bus stop. = The kids usually walk to the bus stop.

I work six days a week. You know I be tired. = I work six days a week. You know I’m usually tired.

They don’t really like the outdoors. That’s why they be in the house. = They don’t really like the outdoors. That’s why they’re usually in the house./That’s why they’re in the house often.

I be singin’ (singing) in the shower. = I usually sing in the shower.

The club be lit on Fridays. — Alysia Nicole Harris, The Non-Aspectual Meaning of African American English ‘Aspectual’ Markers, 2019 = The club is usually lit on Fridays.

I be looking for somewhere to waste time. — unidentified African American English speaker, quoted in African American English: A Linguistic Introduction, 2002 = I usually look for somewhere to waste time.

… they be bothering you while you try and do your work. … — unidentified African American English speaker, quoted in Corpus of Regional African American Language (https://oraal.uoregon.edu/coraal), 1969 = They usually bother you while you’re trying to do you work./They often bother you while you’re trying to do your work.

The be is typically placed between the subject (the word or phrase that performs the action in a sentence) and predicate (everything in a sentence or clause that's not the subject) of a sentence. The predicates that can follow be are verbs, noun phrases, prepositional phrases, adverbial phrases, and adjectives. Perfective done (another common feature of African American English) can also directly follow invariant be in a sentence. (For a refresher on some of these grammar terms, see this article.)

Is 'invariant be' grammatical?

To the untrained eye or ear, invariant be can easily seem like a mistaken substitute for is (or am); however, invariant be follows specific patterns and grammatical rules.

In 1998, Janice Jackson, a doctoral student at the University of Massachusetts Amherst at the time, conducted a study among children around the ages of five and six years old to highlight the invariant be feature. Within the group, one group of children spoke African American English as their primary language, while the other group of children only spoke Standard American English. In her study, she showed the children pictures of characters from the popular children’s show, Sesame Street. One picture showed Elmo eating cookies and another showed Cookie Monster sick in bed. Although Cookie Monster gets his name from his frequent consumption of cookies, he was not pictured with any cookies at the time.

When Jackson asked, “Who be eating cookies?” the AAE speakers in the group pointed to Cookie Monster, while the SAE speakers pointed to Elmo. When Jackson later asked, “Who is eating cookies?” the AAE speakers identified Elmo, clearly distinguishing invariant be and is (the present tense third-person singular of be). The AAE-speaking children demonstrated their ability to recognize invariant be and its functions, while also possessing knowledge of Standard American English grammar. Today, this study is often referenced to show that there is an apparent grammatical distinction between African American English and Standard American English and that invariant be is not an ungrammatical use of the Standard American English is.

What are some characteristics of 'invariant be'?

As mentioned earlier, invariant be is often found between subjects and predicates, but it can also occur at the end of a sentence.

Some people like it and some don’t. That’s just how it be.

Although this use of be is called invariant be, some speakers of African American English also use the invariant be with an -s at the end:

It bes that way.

In African American English: A Linguistic Introduction, linguist Dr. Lisa J. Green suspects that the form bes is simply adding to the idea of frequency or habitualness:

As has been explained in the discussion of aspectual be, the marker is not like other verb forms in that it cannot be conjugated into different person and number forms (e.g., is, am, are), so it remains invariant, uninflected in its paradigm, regardless of the person and number of the subject: I/we be, you be, he/she/it/they be. If aspectual be is not marked for person or number, then what is the role of the -s that is attached to it … ? It may very well be that the verbal -s is functioning here as a habitual marker, and because aspectual be is an inherent habitual marker, verbal -s is redundant: it is doing what aspectual be already does.

This kind of redundancy is also found when invariant be appears with frequency adverbs like usually, always, often, and never. In such cases, the be is usually just after the adverb:

It always be the ones you least suspect. = It’s always the ones you least suspect.

They usually be lying. = They usually lie./They’re usually lying.

You always be watching TV. = You’re always watching TV.

Invariant be also has particular positioning in questions and negative sentences. To negate a statement, don’t is used:

Even though she be playing outside, she don’t be tired. = Even though she’s always playing outside, she’s usually not tired.

My little brother don’t be eating his vegetables. = My brother usually doesn’t eat his vegetables.

To form a question using invariant be, the verb form do is placed in front of the subject:

Do John be cooking dinner? = Does John usually cook dinner?/Does John cook dinner often?

Do y’all be watching scary movies? = Do y’all usually watch scary movies?

Sometimes, speakers of AAE also place did in front of the subject to form a question; however, this is less common.

But That’s Not All

There is some dispute and ongoing research about some of invariant be’s meanings. Although invariant be is also known as habitual be, scholars and linguists, such as H. Samy Alim and William Labov have also contributed research about meanings and uses of invariant be in African American English that are not habitual (in the sense of habitual meaning “regularly or repeatedly doing or practicing something or acting in some manner”). In such uses, be can identify the subject with the predicate, provide emphasis, or convey commitment. The additional meanings of be have raised questions for researchers about whether these variations in meaning suggest that there are multiple bes rather than different readings of invariant be.

While invariant be is a feature of African American English, uninflected forms of be with habitual meanings have also been identified in other variations of English in the United States and beyond, though they may not all be completely identical in usage. The terms invariant be and habitual be are also used to describe these features in other English varieties.

Similar African American English features involve the words been and done in applications which linguists refer to as stressed BIN and perfective done.

Sources:

Janice Eurana Jackson, Linguistic aspect in African-American English-speaking children: An investigation of aspectual "be" (Amherst, Massachusetts: University of Massachusetts Amherst, 1998).

Katie Martin and Raffaella Zanuttini, Invariant be. Yale Grammatical Diversity Project: English in North America, (New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University, 2017).

Lisa J. Green, African American English: A Linguistic Introduction (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2002), 34-70.

Ralph W. Fasold and Carolyn Kessler, Tense Marking in Black English: A Linguistic and Social Analysis (Arlington, Virginia: Center of Applied Linguistics, 1972), 150-183.

Sonja L. Lanehart, The Oxford Handbook of African American Language (New York: Oxford University Press, 2015), 353-370.

Tyler Kendall, Jason McLarty, and Charlie Farrington, Online Resources for African American Language. (Eugene, Oregon: The Online Resources for African American Language Project, 2020)

University of Massachusetts Amherst, Synergy (Amherst, Massachusetts, Fall 1998)