быць

Inherited from Old Belarusian быти (byti), from Old East Slavic бꙑти (byti), from Proto-Slavic *byti, from Proto-Balto-Slavic *bū́ˀtei, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH-. Cognates include Ukrainian бути (buty), Russian быть (bytʹ), Polish być.

• IPA^(key): [bɨt͡sʲ]

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быць • (bycʹ) impf

1. to be
2. (auxiliary, future tense) used to form the future tense of imperfect verbs
3. (auxiliary, past tense) used to form the pluperfect tense of perfect verbs

   Ён пайшо́ў быў куды́сьці. ― Jon pajšóŭ byŭ kudýsʹci. ― He had gone somewhere.

• Omitted in the present tense except in the third-person singular "ёсць", which is used occasionally to express possession or definition or for emphasis.

  Ёсць які́-не́будзь стары́, што да вайны́ тут жыў? ― Joscʹ jakí-njébudzʹ starý, što da vajný tut žyŭ? ― Is there anyone old that lived here before the war?

  У мяне́ ёсць пыта́нне. ― U mjanjé joscʹ pytánnje. ― I have a question.

• To express A=B (to indicate that the subject and object are the same), in the present tense, the verb is omitted and — can be used, e.g.:

  мой брат — наста́ўнік ― moj brat — nastáŭnik ― my brother is a teacher

• "—" is not used when the subject is a pronoun, e.g.:

  я студэ́нт ― ja studént ― I am a student

• Omitted in the present tense to indicate that the subject plays the role of the predicate nominal

  яна́ прыго́жая ― janá pryhóžaja ― she is beautiful

  Хло́пчык ве́льмі гало́дны. ― Xlópčyk vjélʹmi halódny. ― The young man is very hungry.

• However, the dash is not written in third person impersonal adverbial phrases.

  Ця́жка вы́вучыць но́вую мо́ву. ― Cjážka vývučycʹ nóvuju móvu. ― It is difficult to learn a new language.

• Other verbs such as быва́ць (byvácʹ) and стаць (stacʹ) can also be used instead.

• “быць” in Belarusian–Russian dictionaries and Belarusian dictionaries at slounik.org

• I. I. Nosovič, editor (1870), “бы́тый”, in Slovarʹ bělorusskago narěčija‎ (in Russian), volumes 1–2, Saint Petersburg: The Imperial Academy of Sciences, page 75