does be

What it means

1. 1.

   Marks something as habitual rather than momentary: 'he does be working late' means he works late as a rule. 'He's working late' would mean tonight only.

2. 2.

   Also 'do be' with plural subjects: 'they do be at that every Sunday'.

In use

• There does be a crowd in here on a Friday.

• I do be wrecked after the early shift.

Where it comes from

Irish distinguishes the habitual present 'bíonn' from the simple present 'tá', and Hiberno-English rebuilt that distinction out of English parts. It is a real grammatical tense, not an error, though it is stigmatised in school and associated with rural and working-class speech — many speakers who use it in the kitchen avoid it in an interview.

Other forms

Spellings and variants:

do be, bees