Not conjugating 'To be'

Keep in mind that people often take liberties with language in songs or poetry.

It's AAVE, so a dialect of English. Its advised to not use this if you're a learner and aren't integrated in black American culture though because it can come across as mockery/ it has a lot of specific grammar rules and will sound weird if you only use random bits and pieces It's also not used in formal/academic English

It's a really cool feature of African American English! (AAE) (And some other variants of English) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habitual_be Edit: Formally called African American vernacular English (AAVE)

This construction comes from AAVE which has different grammar and syntax. You, as a learner, should not be aiming to speak in this way, but it *is* good that you become familiar with it.

This way of speaking, or writing… Is slang. This is not a rule to follow if you want to speak proper English.

That's AAVE, African-American Vernacular English. It's an ethnic dialect that has its own conjugation rules. I think "he be doing X" means something like "he often/habitually does X", but this isn't my native dialect, so I could be mistaken. 😅

As with every other question about song lyrics, these things happen because verse often bends and break grammatical rules, and many songs feature artists using dialects of English like AAVE.

We be jammin’

Just dropping hello to a fellow TDG fan :D

You can dismiss conjugation rules, or really any rule in English, when it serves your poetic intent. In this case, this appears to be lyrics, and it flows better without the "to". In the same breath you have to know the rules to break them in a way that doesn't muddy understanding.

It's a dialect of English.

People are rightly saying it’s AAVE, but as a younger native I wouldn’t be surprised at anyone speaking like this informally. Definitely don’t speak like this if you’re a learner though.

AAVE is hilarious to me. People will intentionally speak incorrectly for a reason I can't comprehend. It makes you sound stupid

This is the habitual 'be', which is part of AAVE. The closest translation in standard English would be 'we are always losing our minds', or 'we often lose our minds'.

1) Don't rely on song lyrics or poetry for grammar. They often intentionally break rules for stylish effect or to make the meter fit. 2) This example is likely AAVE, or African American Vernacular English, which often does not conjugate "be." Don't try to replicate AAVE in your writing or speech, you are almost guaranteed to be misinterpreted or to cause offense. Native speakers who are not African American generally don't use it or are careful when to use it, both because it's not formal English and to avoid causing offense. If you'd like to learn more about AAVE, watch these clips of "Obama's Anger Translator": [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qv7k2\_lc0M](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qv7k2_lc0M) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkAK9QRe4ds](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkAK9QRe4ds) And read this analysis: [https://wp.nyu.edu/compass/2019/03/28/african-american-english-aae-in-key-peeles-obamas-anger-translator/](https://wp.nyu.edu/compass/2019/03/28/african-american-english-aae-in-key-peeles-obamas-anger-translator/) But, please, for your own sake, don't try to use AAVE as a non-native English speaker. You will get yourself into trouble. If I went into your culture as a white American and did a poor rendition of one of your dialects, you would feel insulted, and rightly so.

This is slang, don’t talk like this unless you are integrated in that community

To be, he be, she be, we be, they be, Y'ALL BE

Honestly, I think that reading (at least poetry), and listening to music, is best left until an advanced learning stage. You will often read something and have no clues that it's a dialect, or wordplay, or otherwise 'non standard'. You're far better off sticking to watching TV shows, movies, etc where you get far more contextual cues when something is a dialect. This goes for *any* language or dialect, to to be honest.

It is short for "We would be"

See this in Irish dialects too, to an extent eg. "I do be" rather than "I will be". I speculate it has some origins in there as Irishisms commonly pop up in African / Caribbean communities.

in this case, 'be' is in place of 'are.' In formal English this phrase would say 'We are losing our minds.' Present progressive/continuous tense, I believe?

In Irish you have two presents: Tá (the action is happening right now) vs. Bíonn (it happens regularly). English just uses one present, so Irish speakers borrowed “be” (or “do be”) to mark that habit: “I do be doing…” 2. Habitual verb forms • Oibríonn = “(s)he habitually works,” so you get “she do be working,” “they do be putting,” etc. • Cuireann = “(s)he habitually puts/places.” • When Irish indentured servants landed in Jamaica, Barbados, Americas, etc., they brought that version of English and maybe that crept into Caribbean English and Creoles or AA English. But idk you’d need to study that, I haven’t looked into it, I just know about it in my own native hiberno english. Interesting anyway!

“We be” is a feature of some dialects, some of which are stigmatised by arseholes. Don’t use it, as you will get subtle details of when exactly it is used wrong and speakers of those dialects will think you are taking the piss

As others have said, it is AAVE in this case. However, it can also be used in "pirate-speak," which is an attempt at imitating how people think pirates used to speak (though it's not necessarily accurate). It's good to be familiar with it, but you don't have to use it in daily life (and there are many instances where it is actually better to avoid using it, like job interviews or other formal situations).

I’m curious how many people commenting that it’s an ethnic thing know that the band that this song is by (Three Days Grace) is a bunch of white guys from rural Ontario.

I’m African American and in teaching me how to “code switch” as a child my mom used to buzz like a 🐝 when I used “be” in a setting it was not appropriate. Bzzz bzzz 😆

Three days grace listener. Nice.

When you don’t care about being correct I guess

When you want to sound like a black American rapper

Habitual tense. NEVER use it if youre speaking formally.

It comes from African American Vernacular English, a dialect of English spoken by black people in the US & Canada. If you're learning English, stay away from AAVE; using it when you're not part of the culture can be seen as strange, if not somewhat insensitive. TLDR: Don't worry about it. It's a dialectal feature you should not attempt to replicate.

Irish English is like this

this isn't just an infinitive, it's the habitual tense, a feature of AAVE and many varieties of english in the southrn parts of thUS

The correct phrase would be “we are losing our minds” this is effectively slang (technically probably AAVE). Dont speak like this.

a a v e