Hi
be-twixt 
be-have
be-fore
be-tray
be-neath
be-ware
be-head
be-held
be-think
be-gone
be-witch
…
Some words started with be- sound to me as ‘very old English’ words. Some (mainly verbs?) are quite obviously created by joining ‘to be’.
How do you make distinguish – when ‘be-’ is from ‘to be’
and when it’s a ‘pure’ (true ancient ) prefix?
Or, maybe, they (such words) all and always are from joining ‘to be’, just the second word/verb has been lost :(?
Hi Tamara,
Be as a prefix goes back to Old English and is inextricably part of verbs like begin,become, believe. Nowadays it is used as a method of turning an intransituve verb into a transitive one: bemoan, belie …It can also turn nouns and adjectives into verbs: befriend, belittle, becalm …It is often used in a casual impromptu construction as in: All the motorcyclists were bejacketed …
Alan
Hi Tamara
What about the phrase: unbeknownst to (me/you/him/us/them/etc.) ? 
But, I’ve never in my life used the word bethink. Have you actually heard that word used in the UK?
I myself don’t associate these sorts of words with the verb be at all. I’ve simply learned them as vocabulary.
Amy
Hi
Hmm…
Thanks a lot… for your great attempt to twist my brains completely
Hopefully, (if I won’t take the wrong turning :)) in a couple of (next) years I will be able to understand that kind of English, as well.
No, Amy. To create the above list I just used a (‘banal’ :)) dictionary. 