be about

English

Verb

be about (third-person singular simple present is about, present participle being about, simple past was about, past participle been about)

(This entry is a translation hub.)
What is this book about?

Usage notes

Not to confuse with to "be about to", which describes the intention, e.g. "I am about to sell my car".

Translations

Chinese:
Mandarin: 是關於／是关于 (shì guānyú)
Dutch: gaan over (nl)
Finnish: kertoa (fi) (+ elative), käsitellä (fi) (+ partitive)
French: s’agir de (fr) (e.g. "il s'agit de ..."), concerner (fr), être au sujet de
German: sich handeln um (de) (e.g. "es handelt sich um ..."), gehen um (de) (e.g. "es geht um ..."), von ... sein, über ... sein
Greek: αφορά (el) (aforá)
Polish: chodzić o (pl) impf, być o (pl)
Russian: быть о (ru) (bytʹ o) (e.g. О чём эта книга? - copula is omitted in the present), речь идёт о ... (rečʹ idjót o ...) (this is about ... (more abstract topics))

about — see about

about to — see about to

what's the matter — see what's the matter

be about

English

Verb

Usage notes

Translations

See also