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1 be alive, breathe, exist, inhabit, live

2 befall, come about, come to pass, happen, occur, take place, transpire (informal)

3 abide, continue, endure, last, obtain, persist, prevail, remain, stand, stay, survive

would-be
budding, dormant, latent, manqué, potential, professed, quasi-, self-appointed, self-styled, so-called, soi-disant, undeveloped, unfulfilled, unrealized

English Collins Dictionary - English synonyms & Thesaurus

be [¹] ( am 1st person singular present) ( are 2nd and 3rd person singular present and plural present) ( is 3rd person singular present) ( being present participle) ( was 1st and 3rd person singular past) ( were 2nd person singular past and plural past) ( been past participle ) (AUXILIARY VERB USES)
In spoken English, forms of be are often shortened, for example `I am' is shortened to `I'm' and `was not' is shortened to `wasn't'.

1       aux   You use be with a present participle to form the continuous tenses of verbs.
This is happening in every school throughout the country...      AUX -ing
She didn't always think carefully about what she was doing...      AUX -ing
  →   be going to
  →   going

2       aux   You use be with a past participle to form the passive voice.
Forensic experts were called in...      AUX -ed
Her husband was killed in a car crash...      AUX -ed
The cost of electricity from coal-fired stations is expected to fall...      AUX -ed
Similar action is being taken by the US government.      AUX -ed

3       aux   You use be with an infinitive to indicate that something is planned to happen, that it will definitely happen, or that it must happen.
The talks are to begin tomorrow...      AUX to-inf
It was to be Johnson's first meeting with the board in nearly a month...      AUX to-inf
You are to answer to Brian, to take your orders from him.      AUX to-inf
  →   be about to
  →   about

4       aux   You use be with an infinitive to say or ask what should happen or be done in a particular situation, how it should happen, or who should do it.
What am I to do without him?...      AUX to-inf
Who is to say which of them had more power?...      AUX to-inf

5       aux   You use was and were with an infinitive to talk about something that happened later than the time you are discussing, and was not planned or certain at that time.
Then he received a phone call that was to change his life...      AUX to-inf
A few hours later he was to prove it.      AUX to-inf

6       aux   You can say that something is to be seen, heard, or found in a particular place to mean that people can see it, hear it, or find it in that place.
Little traffic was to be seen on the streets...      AUX -ed
They are to be found all over the world.      AUX -ed

Translation English - Cobuild Collins Dictionary

be [²] ( am 1st person singular present) ( are 2nd and 3rd person singular present and plural present) ( is 3rd person singular present) ( being present participle) ( was 1st and 3rd person singular past) ( were 2nd person singular past and plural past) ( been past participle ) (OTHER VERB USES)
In spoken English, forms of be are often shortened, for example `I am' is shortened to `I'm' and `was not' is shortened to `wasn't'.

1       v-link   You use be to introduce more information about the subject, such as its identity, nature, qualities, or position.
She's my mother...      V n
He is a very attractive man...      V n
My grandfather was a butcher...      V n
The fact that you were willing to pay in the end is all that matters...      V n
The sky was black...      V adj
It is 1,267 feet high...      V adj
Cheney was in Madrid...      V prep/adv
His house is next door...      V prep/adv
`Is it safe?'<emdash>`Well of course it is.'...      V
He's still alive isn't he?      V

2       v-link   You use be, with `it' as the subject, in clauses where you are describing something or giving your judgment of a situation.
It was too chilly for swimming...      it V adj
Sometimes it is necessary to say no...      it V adj to-inf
It is likely that investors will face losses...      it V adj that
It's nice having friends to chat to...      it V adj -ing
It's a good thing I brought lots of handkerchiefs...      it V n that
It's no good just having meetings...      it V n -ing
It's a good idea to avoid refined food...      it V n to-inf
It's up to us to prove it.      it V prep to-inf

3       v-link   You use be with the impersonal pronoun `there' in expressions like there is and there are to say that something exists or happens.
Clearly there is a problem here...      there V n
There are very few cars on this street...      there V n
There was nothing new in the letter...      there V n

4       v-link   You use be as a link between a subject and a clause and in certain other clause structures, as shown below.
It was me she didn't like, not what I represented...      V n
What the media should not do is to exploit people's natural fears...      V to-inf
Our greatest problem is convincing them...      V -ing
The question was whether protection could be improved...      V wh
All she knew was that I'd had a broken marriage...      V that
Local residents said it was as if there had been a nuclear explosion.      V as if

5       v-link   You use be in expressions like the thing is and the point is to introduce a clause in which you make a statement or give your opinion.
SPOKEN   The fact is, the players gave everything they had...      V cl
The plan is good; the problem is it doesn't go far enough.      V cl

6       v-link   You use be in expressions like to be fair, to be honest, or to be serious to introduce an additional statement or opinion, and to indicate that you are trying to be fair, honest, or serious.
She's always noticed. But then, to be honest, Ghislaine likes being noticed...      V adj
It enabled students to devote more time to their studies, or to be more accurate, more time to relaxation.      V adj

7 v-link The form `be' is used occasionally instead of the normal forms of the present tense, especially after `whether'.
FORMAL The chemical agent, whether it be mustard gas or nerve gas, can be absorbed by the skin. be n

8 verb If something is, it exists.
mainly FORMAL or LITERARY

9 v-link To be yourself means to behave in the way that is right and natural for you and your personality.
She'd learnt to be herself and to stand up for her convictions. V pron-refl

10    If you talk about what would happen if it wasn't for someone or something, you mean that they are the only thing that is preventing it from happening.
♦ if it wasn't for      phrase   V inflects, PHR n
I could happily move back into a flat if it wasn't for the fact that I'd miss my garden..., If it hadn't been for her your father would be alive today.

11    You say `Be that as it may' when you want to move onto another subject or go further with the discussion, without deciding whether what has just been said is right or wrong.
♦ be that as it may      phrase
  (vagueness)    `Is he still just as fat?'<emdash>`I wouldn't know,' continued her mother, ignoring the interruption, `and be that as it may, he has made a fortune.'

Translation English - Cobuild Collins Dictionary

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"Collins Cobuild English Dictionary for Advanced Learners 4th edition published in 2003 © HarperCollins Publishers 1987, 1995, 2001, 2003 and Collins A-Z Thesaurus 1st edition first published in 1995 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995"