ב־

See also: ב, בֿ, and Variations of "b"

ב־ - Aramaic

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /b-/

Preposition

ב־ (transliteration needed)

  1. in
  2. at
  3. with

Inflection

Non-personal-pronoun-including form בְּ־, בּ־, בִּ־, בַּ־, בֶּ־, בָּ־ (bə-, b-, bi-, ba-, be-, bo-)
Personal-pronoun- including forms Singular Plural
Masculine Feminine Masculine Feminine
First person בִּי () בַּנָא (bánā)
Second person בָּךְ (bāḵ) בָּךְ (bāḵ) בְּכוֹן (bəḵōn) בְּכֵין (bəḵēn)
Third person בֵּהּ (bēh) בַּהּ (bah) בְּהוֹן (bəhōn) בְּהֵין (bəhēn)

ב־ - Hebrew

Preposition

בְּ־ (b'-)

  1. In (a place or time).
    • אֲנִי בַּבִּנְיָן.aní babinyán.I am in the building.
    • טִיַּלְנוּ בְּאַמֶרִיקָה.tiyálnu b'amérika.We traveled in America.
    • הֵם דִּבְּרוּ בַּבֹּקֶר.hem dibrú babóker.They spoke in the morning.
  2. With (an abstract noun); often used to form adverbs (like -ly).
    • הוּא הִתְכּוֹנֵן בִּזְרִיזוּת.hu hitkonén bizrizút.He got ready with haste. (=He got ready hastily.)
    • אָכַלְתֶּם בְּיַחַד?akháltem b'yákhad?Did you eat with togetherness? (=Did you eat together?)
  3. (archaic, introducing a bare infinitive) While, during.
  4. (introducing a verbal noun) While, during.
    • הוּא נָפַל בְּשֵׁינָה.hu nafal b'sheina.He fell during sleep.
  5. Among.
    • הַיָּפָה בַּנָּשִׁיםhayafá banashímthe most beautiful of women (literally, “the beautiful among the women”)
    • שלושה בני אדם, בהם ילדה בת שבעsh'loshá b'néi-adám, bahém yaldá bát shévathree people, among them a seven-year-old girl
  6. On (a medium of communication).
    • רָאִינוּ אֵת זֶה בַּטֶּלֶוִיזְיָה וְשָׁמַעֲנוּ עַל זֶה בָּרַדְיוֹ.
      • ra'ínu et ze batelevízya v'shamá'nu al ze barádyo.
      • We saw it on TV and heard about it on the radio.
    • כָּל הַיּוֹם מְדַבְּרִים בַּטֶּלֶפוֹן!
      • kol-hayóm m'dab'rím batélefon!
      • All day they talk on the phone!
  7. (mathematics, followed by a feminine ordinal number) To the power of: Indicating an exponent.
    • 2 בַּרְבִיעִית שָׁוֶה 16.2 to the power of four [lit. in the fourth] equals 16.

Usage notes

  • Unlike English in, בְּ־ cannot easily mean into; rather, לְ־ (l'-, to) is generally used for that sense.
  • Like English in, בְּ־ is a fairly weak word; when the sense is that of being in a place, the word בְּתוֹךְ (b'tókh, within, inside) may be used as a stronger variant.
  • בְּ־ is used in forming dates using the traditional Hebrew months; for example, 17 Tammuz is “17 בתמוז”, literally “17 in Tammuz”. However, לְ־ (l'-, to) is sometimes used with the months of the Roman calendar.
  • בְּ־ undergoes the same vowel changes as לְ־ (l'-, to) and כְּ־ (k'-, like, as), including the merger with הַ־ (ha-, the); see לְ־ (l'-, to).
  • Unlike English in, בְּ־ is strictly a preposition, and always takes an object; בִּפְנִים (bif'ním, in, inside) is used without an object.

Inflection

Non-personal-pronoun-including form בְּ־, בּ־, בִּ־, בַּ־, בֶּ־, בָּ־ (b'-, b-, bi-, ba-, be-, bo-)
Personal-pronoun- including forms Singular Plural
Masculine Feminine Masculine Feminine
First person בִּי () בָּנוּ (bánu)
Second person בְּךָ (b'khá) בָּךְ (bákh) בָּכֶם (bakhém) בָּכֶן (bakhén)
Third person בּוֹ () בָּהּ (báh) בָּהֶם (bahém), בָּם (bám)1 בָּהֶן (bahén), בָּן (bán)1
Notes
  1. The forms בָּם and בָּן are archaic except in poetic use.

Derived terms

  • ביחד (b'yákhad) “together”
  • בלבד (bil'vád) “only”
  • בעוד (b'ód) “in (a duration of time)”
  • בעזרת השם (b'ezrát hashém) “with G-d’s help”
  • בוודאי (b'vadái) “certainly, definitely”
  • בתוך (b'tókh) “inside, within”
  • בצורה (b'tzurá) “in a … form”
  • באופן (b'ófen) “in a … way”
  • בקושי (b'kóshi) “hardly”
  • באמת (beemét) “truly”
  • בשביל (bish'víl) “for”
  • בגלל (big'lál) “because of”
  • בדיוק (bid'yúk) “exactly”
  • במקום (bim'qóm) “instead of”
  • במקום (bamaqóm) “in place”
  • ט״ו בשבט (tú bish'vat) “Tu Bishvat”
Meaning and Definition of ב־
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