Conventions for subject-verb agreement with be in spoken or vernacular varieties of English may differ from those of academic English. For instance, an Appalachian speaker might say “I been down” rather than “I have been down”; a speaker of African American vernacular might say “He be at work” rather than “He is at work.” You may want to quote such spoken phrases in your writing, but for most academic and professional writing, follow the conventions of academic English. (For information on using varieties of English appropriately, see Chapter 19.)