The very productive prefix be- derives transitive verbs from other verbs (transitive or intransitive). The meaning of derivations with be- can be described as to direct the action named in the base form to the object. Examples are listed below:

Base form	Derivation
anderje to answer	beänderje to answer to
wenje to live	bewenje to live in
harkje to listen	beharkje to listen to
prate to talk	beprate to talk about
riddenearje to reason	beriddenearje to reason out
grave to dig	begrave to bury
driigje to threaten	bedriigje to threaten

In some cases the base form and the be-derivation can have the same object. The addition of the affix be- then adds a perfective aspect to the base form, but does not change the meaning of the base form. Examples are listed below:

In other cases the be- derivation (b) has a different lexical meaning from the base form (a). The difference is shown in the example below.

In most cases the addition of the prefix be- changes the syntactic valency of the verb. While skrieme to cry and sjitte to shoot take a prepositional object (shown in a), the be-derivations beskrieme to regret and besjitte to fire upon take a direct object (shown in b):

The verbs struie to scatter, bargje to spill and spuitsje to squirt take a direct object (Theme) and a place indication (or Location) (shown in a). After derivation by bestruie to strew, bebargje to soil and bespuitsje to spray on the noun of the Location becomes the direct object, while the former direct object ends up in an Adposition Phrase (PP) with mei with (as is shown in the b-examples). The prepositional phrase introduced by mei with is not obligatory, whereas the direct object is. Note that there is a slight difference in meaning between the sentences in (a) and (b). The sentences in (b) contain an affected object; it is suggested that the object is "completely covered", while this is not necessarily the case for the sentences in (a):

There are many applications of be- derivations which are unknown (or only occur sporadically) in Dutch. These applications will be discussed below. Firstly, Frisian has be- verbs with the meaning to obtain the object involved by the action named in the base form. Closely related are be- derivations with the meaning to contract a physical discomfort or a natural need by the action named in the base form. Examples are listed below:

Base form	Derivation
buorkje to farm (a)	bebuorkje to obtain by farming
fiskje to fish (b)	befiskje to obtain by fishing
trouwe to marry (c)	betrouwe to obtain by marrying
wrotte to grub (d)	bewrotte to obtain by grubbing
rinne to walk (e)	berinne to catch by walking
skreppe to grub (f)	beskreppe to catch by grubbing
reizgje to travel (g)	bereizgje to catch by travelling

In the same category we find be- derivations with the meaning to reach the object by the action named in the base form'. Derivations with this meaning are often obligatory accompanied by a form of the modal auxiliary kinne to can and a negation (for example net not or amper scarcely). Examples are listed below.

Base form	Derivation
rinne to walk (a)	berinne to walk
djipje to fathom (b)	bedjipje to fathom
roppe to call (c)	beroppe to shout out to
gapje to yawn (d)	begapje to yawn
skriuwe to write (e)	beskriuwe to reach by writing

Another group of verbs with some syntactic restrictions is constituted by derivations with the vague meaning to do something by the action of the base form. Examples are listed below.

Base form	Derivation
timmerje to hammer (a)	betimmerje to hammer
mûskopje to whisper (b)	bemûskopje to whisper
breidzje to knit (c)	bebreidzje to knit
raze to shout (d)	beraze to shout

These derivations only occur if they are found in interrogative or exclamation sentences starting with the interrogative word wat what. All reveal a somewhat negative attitude to the situation described. In addition, the verb can be intensified by coordination of the dummy verb(be)dwaan to do. An example of the latter can be seen in (d):

According to Dijkstra (1900-1911) it is typically Frisian to use a be- derivation to denote a silly habit of somebody. Two examples are shown below.

Base form	Derivation
flokke to swear (a)	beflokke to swear
lipe to whine (b)	belipe to whine

Such derivations are invariably combined with the pronoun alles all.

Another special group of be- derivations in Frisian are the ones denoting that the object concerned undergoes a change by the action named in the base form. Four examples are listed below.

Base form	Derivation
bakke to bake (a)	bebakke to shrink by baking
siede to boil (b)	besiede to boil down
brûke to use (c)	bebrûke to improve by using
legerje to quarter (d)	belegerje to mature

Such be-verbs are ergative, that is, the verb's theme appears as the syntactic subject. The complete tense is formed with a form of the auxiliary verb wêze to be. Examples are listed below:

If the base form already has a denotation indicating change, the addition of be- does not change the meaning of the base form. It only adds a perfective aspect. Examples are listed below:

Base form	Derivation
krimpe to shrink (a)	bekrimpe to shrink
stjurje to clot (b)	bestjurje to clot
sakje to sink (c)	besakje to sink

These verbs are often accompanied by the mitigating adverb wat somewhat:

A subdivision of this kind of derivations can be seen in those be-derivations in which the base form refers to performing a conventional action, like traveling, partying and marrying. Such derivations denote a (positive or negative) change of the state of the object by the action named in the base form. Examples are listed below:

Base form	Derivation
reizgje to travel (a)	bereizgje to travel
feeste to party (b)	befeeste to party
brulloftsje to celebrate a wedding (c)	bebrulloftsje to celebrate a wedding

Such verb derivations only occur as a past participle, and are always combined with an evaluating adverb (for example hoe how, goed good, min bad). Examples are listed below:

The last category of typical Frisian be- derivations contains verbs with the meaning to process the object concerned completely by means of the action named in the base form. Examples are listed below:

Base form	Derivation
bakke to bake (a)	bebakke to bake
klopje to beat (b)	beklopje to beat
wuolje to wrap (c)	bewuolje to wrap

These verbs always go with a prepositional phrase starting with yn in

The special applications of the prefix be- in Frisian as discussed above have in common that the meaning of the base form changes the meaning of the new verb. In Dutch, on the other hand, the meaning of the base form and the derivation are mostly the same and there is only a change in valency and aspect. One can say rijden op een paard or een paard berijden, both meaning to ride a horse. In Frisian the meaning of the base form and the be- derivation differs. In Ljouwert yn in oere beride to drive to Leeuwarden in one hour or honger beride to get hungry by riding, we are not concerned with the activity ride to ride with Leeuwarden and honger as objects, but about reaching Leeuwarden in a specific time and about getting hungry by the action of riding.