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Aedilis Posted 17 years ago
Grammar

You be the judge

Hello all.
How are you doing? I don't feel well now. So my post could be somewhat confusing. Nevertherless I have to ask this question, and I feel sorry about that.

'You be the judge.'

The sentence above is troubling me right now, because I have no idea why it is grammatical. I know it is used when allow others to make the decision. The problem is why 'be'? Shouldn't it be 'are' instead? I know many cases when we can use 'be' as a from of bare infinitives. But the meanings quite differ from this in such cases. They usually carry the speaker's feelings. For instance, 'She (be) a beauty!' shows a strong disapproval. And I don't think this usage fits well with 'You be the judge'. Would you explain this for me? I would be more than grateful for your replies. Thank you in advance.
  

Top answer

Hi, Do you know what an imperative is? It's the grammatical form in which we give an order, or perhaps strong advice. Often, but not always, it may end with an exclamation mark.

— Clive

  • Hi, Do you know what an imperative is?
  • It's the grammatical form in which we give an order, or perhaps strong advice.
  • Often, but not always, it may end with an exclamation mark.
  • eg Stand up!
  • eg Sit down!
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2 Answers
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Hi,
Do you know what an imperative is? It's the grammatical form in which we give an order, or perhaps strong advice.
Often, but not always, it may end with an exclamation mark.

eg Stand up!
eg Sit down!
eg Be quiet, please.
eg Be the judge.
wg Tom, be the judge.
eg You, be the judge.
eg You be the judge, Tom.

Best wishes, Clive
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Sure I know! My gosh. I completely forgot about that.
How careless I am!
It's so kind of you to answer such a silly question.
Thanks a million
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