быть

From Old East Slavic бꙑти (byti), from Proto-Slavic *byti.

• IPA^(key): [bɨtʲ]

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быть • (bytʹ) impf

1. to be

   Так бы́ло, так есть и так бу́дет всегда́!

   Tak býlo, tak jestʹ i tak búdet vsegdá!

   So it was, so it is, and so it will always be! [from the Hymn of the Russian Federation]

   быть под башмако́м ― bytʹ pod bašmakóm ― to be henpecked

• Omitted in the present tense except in the third-person singular "есть", which is used occasionally to express possession or definition or for emphasis. "есть" is originally 3rd person singular but is now used for all persons, e.g. "я и есть тот челове́к" - "I am that person". See also —.
• Negative forms with не (ne) feature stress on the particle in standard Russian for masculine, neuter and plural forms past tense: "не́ был", "не́ было", "не́ были".

Notes on present tense forms:

• есть (jestʹ) is the only Russian present tense form. In works of literature, it can be used as a copula, as in Church Slavonic, for emphasis.
• Extremely rarely, Church Slavonic forms есмь (jesmʹ), е́сь (jésʹ), еси́ (jesí), есмы́ (jesmý), е́сте (jéste) appear in some styles of literature. They are not understood by most speakers and normally aren’t considered part of the language.
• суть (sutʹ) is the Church Slavonic 3rd person plural. In modern Russian it has contaminated with the noun суть (sutʹ, “essence”), and may occur in formal styles with a vague unetymological meaning ‘is in essence’ indiscriminately of person and number.

• есть (jestʹ)
• суть (sutʹ)
• бытие́ (bytijé)
• существова́ние (suščestvovánije)
• быва́ть (byvátʹ) iterative aspect
• — (тире́ (tirɛ́), used as a verb for noun pairs)
• 3rd person negative (there is/are no):

  нет (net), не́ту (nétu) (non-standard)

• past negative: (note the stress)

  не́ был (né byl), не была́ (ne bylá), не́ было (né bylo), не́ были (né byli)

• future active participle:

  бу́дущий (búduščij)

• conditional/subjunctive particle:

  бы (by), б (b)