invariant be

noun

variants or less commonly invariant "be"

linguistics

: the uninflected verb form be (as in "she be jogging") used in African American English and to varying degrees in some other varieties of English to indicate that an action or state is habitual or frequent : aspectual be, habitual be

AAVE [African American Vernacular English] has rules like any other dialect or language, as linguists John Rickford and Russell Rickford argue in their 2001 article for Language Review, "The Ubiquity of Ebonics": "Consider grammar. In the movie [The Original Kings of Comedy], the Kings mark tense and aspect when and how events occur with the tools of black talk. They place invariant be before verbs for frequent or habitual actions ('they songs be havin a cause'), and use done for completed actions ('you done missed it'), and be done for future perfect or hypothetical events ('lightning be done struck my house'). …"—

Sydnee Thompson

Only 13 AAE features were observed in the narratives. … For example, … the invariant "be" (This person always be pickin a fight at school) …—

Angela Bradford Wainwright

But "A Raisin in the Sun," pocked with grim wisdom yet filled with buoyant humor and delicious turns of phrase, has earned its length, breadth and depth. As a reflection and meditation on the African-American past, present and future, it serves as the dramatic gold standard, and like the humble and enduring invariant "be" itself, it will always stand the test of time.—

Tony Farrell

Note: The feature of African American English called invariant be often occurs between the subject and predicate of a sentence, and can precede noun phrases, prepositional phrases, adverbial phrases, adjectives, passive verbs, -ing verbs, and the African American English feature perfective done.