be it, be that

[royljc]

Hi, Joe,

I’m having problem explaining "be it" or "be that" in precise English phrases. I’m listing three sentences for your reference. Please help. Thanks in advance.

1. Be it an alien icon, a football icon, a dog icon, we've got hundreds of smiley options for you to use.
2. Two, a lot of 'information', be it technical or otherwise, is not available in digital form and may never be available, only in hard copy.
3. Macroeconomics is a branch of economics that deals with the performance, structure, behavior and decision-making of the entire economy, be that a national, regional, or the global economy.


Royljc

[Joe Carillo]

In the sentences you presented, the verb phrase “be it” is actually the subjunctive form of “whether it is,” and the verb phrase “be that” the subjunctive form of “whether that is.” (Click this link for an earlier discussion of the subjunctive mood in the Forum.) The difference between “be it” and “be that” is simply that in the former, the speaker is generally referring to things or objects, while in the latter, the speaker is specifically pointing to things or objects in a more familiar way (using “that” as a pointing adjective).