ב־

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

Aramaic

Etymology

From Proto-Semitic *bV- (“with, in, at, among”)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /b-/

Preposition

בְּ־ • (bə-)

1. in
2. at
3. with

Inflection

Inflection table

base form	בְּ־, בּ־, בִּ־, בַּ־, בֶּ־, בָּ־ (bə-, b-, bi-, ba-, be-, bo-)
Personal-pronoun- including forms	singular		plural
	m	f	m	f
1st person	בִּי (bī)		בַּנָא (bánā)
2nd person	בָּךְ (bāḵ)	בָּךְ (bāḵ)	בְּכוֹן (bəḵōn)	בְּכֵין (bəḵēn)
3rd person	בֵּהּ (bēh)	בַּהּ (bah)	בְּהוֹן (bəhōn)	בְּהֵין (bəhēn)

References

• “b”, in The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon Project, Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College, 1986–
• Jastrow, Marcus (1903), A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature‎^[1], London, New York: Luzac & Co., G.P. Putnam's Sons

Hebrew

Etymology

From Proto-Semitic *bV- (“with, in, at, among”), possibly further from Proto-Afroasiatic *bǔ (“place”).

Pronunciation

• (reconstructed Biblical) IPA^(key): /bi/, /ba/
• (Modern Israeli) IPA^(key): /be/, /ba/, /bi/

• Audio:

  (file)

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
   1. (instrumental) By means of, using

      הַמּוֹרֶה כּוֹתֵב בְּגִּיר. ― hamoré kotév b'gír. ― The teacher is writing with a piece of chalk.

   2. (followed by an abstract noun) In a manner characterized by (in English usually rendered by an adverb)

      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.
   • c. 14th century B.C.E.,
     Tanach, Deuteronomy 6:7, with translation of the King James Version:

     וְשִׁנַּנְתָּם לְבָנֶיךָ וְדִבַּרְתָּ בָּם בְּשִׁבְתְּךָ בְּבֵיתֶךָ וּבְלֶכְתְּךָ בַדֶּרֶךְ וּבְשָׁכְבְּךָ וּבְקוּמֶךָ׃

     v'shinantám l'vanékha v'dibárta bam b'shivt'khá b'veitekhá uv'lekht'khá vadárekh uv'shokhb'khá uv'kumékha.

     And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest [lit. in-sitting-of-thee] in thine house, and when thou walkest [lit. and-in-walking-of-thee] by the way, and when thou liest down [lit. and-in-lying-of-thee], and when thou risest up [lit. and-in-rising-of-thee].

   • Tanach, Psalms 92:7, with translation of the King James Version:

     בִּפְרֹחַ רְשָׁעִים ׀ כְּמוֹ עֵשֶׂב וַיָּצִיצוּ כָּל־פֹּעֲלֵי אָוֶן לְהִשָּׁמְדָם עֲדֵי־עַד׃

     bifróakh r'sha'ím k'mó ésev vayatsítsu kol-po'alé áven l'hisham'dám adé-ád.

     When the wicked spring [lit. in-flowering-of wicked] as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish; it is that they shall be destroyed for ever:

4. (introducing a verbal noun) While, during.

   הוּא נָפַל בְּשֵׁינָה. ― hu nafál b'shená. ― He fell during sleep.

5. Among.

   הַיָּפָה בַּנָּשִׁים ― hayafá banashím ― the most beautiful of women (literally, “the beautiful among the women”)

   שלושה בני אדם, בהם ילדה בת שבע ― sh'loshá b'né-adám, bahém yaldá bát shéva ― three 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. ― shtáyim bar'vi'ít shavé shésh-esré. ― 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 בְּתַמּוּז”, literally “17 in Tammuz”. However, לְ־ (l'-, “to”) is sometimes used with the months of the Roman calendar.
• Unlike English in, בְּ־ is strictly a preposition, and always takes an object; בִּפְנִים (bif'ním, “in, inside”) is used without an object.
• In traditional grammar בְּ־ undergoes the same vowel changes as לְ־ (l'-, “to”) and כְּ־ (k'-, “like, as”), including the coalescence with הַ־ (ha-, “the”). Compare לְ־ (l'-, “to”).
  • The default form, used when none of the below rules apply, is בְּ־ (b'-). It is also the only form in ordinary use in colloquial Modern Hebrew, except for the forms that merge with the definite article (see below) and in various fixed expressions that always use the traditional pronunciation.
  • When the first syllable of the word has a shva ná, the form בִּ־ (bi-) is used; hence, when ב־ is attached to the noun זְכוּת (zkhút, “a right”), we obtain בִּזְכוּת (bizkhút, “thanks to”). Further, when the word starts with the syllable יְ־ (y'-), it loses its shva; hence, in traditional grammar, when ב־ is attached to יְרוּשָׁלַיִם (y'rushaláyim, “Jerusalem”), we obtain בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם (birushaláyim, “in Jerusalem”).
  • When the first syllable of the word has a khataf vowel, ב־ takes the corresponding non-khataf vowel. For example בֶּאֱמֶת (be'emét, “really”), בָּעֳנִי (bo'oní, “in poverty”).
  • Following the prefix, a dagesh lene (kal) will not appear in word-initial begedkefet letters (ב, ג, ד, כ, פ, ת); for example, בְּ־ + פְּרָט (prat, “detail”) becomes בִּפְרָט (bifrát, “in particular”).
  • When it is combined with the clitic הַ־ (ha-, “the”), the two clitics fuse into one syllable, with the onset being בּ and the vowel being that of the ה־ (i.e., a patakh, a kamats, or a segol, depending on the first syllable of the word); for example, when ב־ and ה־ are attached to כִּתָּה (kitá, “classroom”), we obtain בַּכִּתָּה (bakitá, “in the classroom”) (note the dagesh forte (khazak) in the כּ (/⁠k⁠/)), and when they're attached to אוֹר (or, “light”), we obtain בָּאוֹר (ba'ór, “in the light”).
  • Before demonstrative pronouns (such as זֶה (ze, “this”), זֹאת (zot, “this”), and אֵלֶּה (éle, “these”)), the prefix generally takes a kamats; for example, בָּזֹאת (bazót, “in this, with this”).

Inflection

Inflection table

base form	בְּ־, בּ־, בִּ־, בַּ־, בֶּ־, בָּ־ (b'-, b-, bi-, ba-, be-, bo-)
Personal-pronoun- including forms	singular		plural
	m	f	m	f
1st person	בִּי (bí)		בָּנוּ (bánu)
2nd person	בְּךָ (b'khá)	בָּךְ (bákh)	בָּכֶם (bakhém)	בָּכֶן (bakhén)
3rd person	בּוֹ (bó)	בָּהּ (báh)	בָּהֶם (bahém), בָּם (bám)1	בָּהֶן (bahén), בָּן (bán)1

1. The forms בָּם and בָּן are archaic except in poetic use.

Derived terms

• באופן (b'ófen, “in a manner, in a way”)
• בגלל (big'lál, “because of”)
• בוודאי (b'vadái, “certainly, definitely, of course”)
• בלבד (bil'vád, “only”)
• בעוד (b'ód, “in (a duration of time)”)
• בעזרת השם (b'ezrát hashém, “with God's help”)
• בצורה (b'tsurá, “in a form, in a manner, in a way”)
• בקושי (b'kóshi, “hardly”)
• ט״ו בשבט (tú bish'vát, “Tu Bishvat”)

Hebrew terms prefixed with ב־

באמת

בארבע עיניים

בביטול

בבקשה

בדיוק

בדיעבד

בדרך כלל

בזמן

בחוץ

במקום

בהחלט

בהכרח

בהצלחה

בהקדם

בהרבה

בהתאמה

בהתחלה

ובכן

בזאת

בזהירות

בזכות

בזמנו

בחייך

בחינם

בחמלה

בטעות

ביותר

ביחד

בכבוד

בכוונה

בכיף

בכל אשר

בכלל

בלא

לא בכדי

בלבד

במהירות

במהלך

במזל

במיוחד

במקביל

במקרה

במשך

בנוסף

בנחת

בניגוד ל־

בנימוס

בסבלנות

בסדר

בסוף

בעיני־

בעיקר

בעצם

בערך

בפני

בפנים

בפרהסיה

בפרט

בקיצור

בקלות

בקרוב

בראשית

ברמות

ברצינות

ברציפות

בשביל

בשגגה

בשל

בתוך

בתיאבון

References

• “ניקוד אותיות השימוש”, in Academy of the Hebrew Language website‎^[2] (in Hebrew)