acaba

See also: Acaba, acabá, and acabà

Asturian

Verb

acaba

1. third-person singular present indicative of acabar
2. second-person singular imperative of acabar

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Catalan

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central) IPA^(key): /əˈka.bə/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /aˈka.ba/
• Hyphenation: a‧ca‧ba

Verb

acaba

1. third-person singular present indicative form of acabar
2. second-person singular imperative form of acabar

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Portuguese

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Brazil) /aˈka.bɐ/, [aˈka.bɐ]

• IPA^(key): (Portugal) /ɐˈka.bɐ/, [ɐˈka.βɐ]

• Homophone: Acaba
• Hyphenation: a‧ca‧ba
• Rhymes: -abɐ

Verb

acaba

1. third-person singular (ele and ela, also used with você and others) present indicative of acabar
2. second-person singular (tu, sometimes used with você) affirmative imperative of acabar

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Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aˈkaba/, [aˈka.β̞a]
• Hyphenation: a‧ca‧ba

Verb

acaba

1. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present indicative form of acabar.
2. Formal second-person singular (usted) present indicative form of acabar.
3. Informal second-person singular (tú) affirmative imperative form of acabar.

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Turkish

Etymology

From Ottoman Turkish عجبا‎ (acaba), from Arabic عَجَبًا‎‎ (ʿajaban), adverbial accusative of عَجَب‎ (ʿajab, “astonishment, wonder, amazement”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aˈdʒa.baː/, [ɑˈd͡ʒɑbɑː]

Adverb

acaba

1. A word which makes the sentence specify curiosity, dither or doubt, and sometimes courtesy. Roughly equivalente to English phrases like “I wonder”, “Would you please mind...”, “May I...”.

   Acaba bana ne hediye aldı? (curiosity) ― (I wonder) what did he/she buy me as a present?

   Acaba sınavı geçer miyim? (doubt) ― (I wonder,) can I pass the exam?

   Acaba hangi ayakkabıyı alsam? (dither) ― (I wonder) which shoe should I buy?

   Acaba şu çantaya da bakabilir miyim? (courtesy) ― (I wonder,) can I see this bag, too?

Usage notes

• Acaba may be at the end of the sentence, too:

  Bana ne hediye aldı acaba?

References

• acaba in Turkish dictionaries at Türk Dil Kurumu
• Kélékian, Diran (1911), “عجبا”, in Dictionnaire turc-français, Constantinople: Mihran, page 839
• Nişanyan, Sevan (2002–), “acaba”, in Nişanyan Sözlük