# בָּא



## Astralogic

Hi, I've just begun the journey of self learning Hebrew. I've run into a small area of confusion converning the word בָּא.

I see two websites that teach the Hebrew aleph-bet, they translate this word differently. One says "came" the other says "comes/coming". Which is correct?

Thanks
Astralogic

PS. I tried some dictionaries but they don't seem to work.


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## Egmont

Welcome to WRF!

They're both correct. The present tense (masculine singular) and past tense  (masculine third person singular) are identical for verbs that have  two-letter roots. (Most verbs, as you may have learned by now, have  three-letter roots.)

You can find the complete conjugation table for this verb here.
 (Click the down arrow next to "show" at the right.)

If I say "Ani ba," it can only mean the  present tense, "I come," because the past tense form is only used for  the third person. However, if I say "Uri ba," it can mean either "Uri  comes" or "Uri came." You need context to tell which is meant.

English  has many examples of similar problems. If you see "I read the book," is  it present or past tense? Granted, in this case they sound different in  speech, but they look the same when written. If it's third person  singular, you can tell them apart: "Joe reads the book" for the present,  "Joe read the book" for the past. Again, similar to Hebrew: some of the  forms are different, but some are the same.


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## arielipi

They probably differ in niqqud.


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## anipo

arielipi said:


> They probably differ in niqqud.



As far as I know, they don't.


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## Egmont

arielipi said:


> They probably differ in niqqud.


According to the conjugation table at the link in post 2, they both have a kamats under the bet as in post 1.


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## Astralogic

Thank you for the kind welcome and the explanation. I don't know  anything about three letter roots at all, I've literally just begun to  learn Hebrew, I'm currently memorising the letters and some basic  vocabulary.

So when learning the word "ba" it is best to learn is as "to come"?


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## airelibre

To come is לבוא (lavo, stress on the o). Each verb has an infinitive, starting with ל which means for/to, just like in English we say the infinitive is "to verb". 

It's best to keep in mind all of its meanings, rather than confine it to "to come". The context will always make the meaning clear. 

It also works as an adjective, meaning "next".

הוא הכוכב הבא
hu hakokhav haba
He is the next star (the next big thing). Or more literally, he is the up*coming* star.


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## Astralogic

If  בָּא is used in the third person, is it always past tense? אָב בָּא׃ = Father came? Never father is coming or will come?

I'm trying to get a good short accurate description to put on the back of flashcards.


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## airelibre

אב בא = father came, is coming, comes
אב יבוא = father will come


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## anipo

I am not sure if what follows is important for Astrologic at this stage of his learning of Hebrew, but if not for his/her sake, then for others':
Nobody would say אב בא, unless he is talking about the month of that name. 
You would say אבא בא (Abba ba) if talking about your own father, or האב של...בא  (Haav shel ... ba) -with a name instead of the dots- meaning X's father came, is coming, comes.


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## airelibre

anipo said:


> I am not sure if what follows is important for Astrologic at this stage of his learning of Hebrew, but if not for his/her sake, then for others':
> Nobody would say אב בא, unless he is talking about the month of that name.
> You would say אבא בא (Abba ba) if talking about your own father, or האב של...בא  (Haav shel ... ba) -with a name instead of the dots- meaning X's father came, is coming, comes.



I agree, it also sounds strange in English but it served to show the tenses in action.


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## arielipi

I once heard that (בלי הגבלת כלליות) in חסרי ו first person past tense is with khataf and present is with kamataz.


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## ystab

arielipi said:


> I once heard that (בלי הגבלת כלליות) in חסרי ו first person past tense is with khataf and present is with kamataz.



You probably mean Patah in the past tense. That's true, but in this case, since we have a mater lectonis א, both forms are with Qamatz.

And just one more little thing, it's נחי ע״ו and not חסרי.


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## airelibre

Note to OP: don't worry about any of that right now! You could be fluent and not understand any of that, so there are more important things to get confused about at this stage in your journey!


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## arielipi

ystab said:


> You probably mean Patah in the past tense. That's true, but in this case, since we have a mater lectonis א, both forms are with Qamatz.
> 
> And just one more little thing, it's נחי ע״ו and not חסרי.



About the khataf, that was all-the-way wrong indeed, about the חסרי i wondered if its that or what you said. taken into notice  +1

isnt the root though ב-ו-א? so why isnt the alef the one from the root (as in רץ, דץ,קץ etc)


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## Astralogic

Thanks for all this info guys it's really useful!

I only have two vocab flash cards, father and came. I will change father to  אָבָּא and for בָּא in English I will use "came, is coming, comes". Are those correct?


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## airelibre

Yes, that's correct. However, if we're being picky, I would say that אבא is better translated as dad, since it is more general, less formal than father, which is אב like you initially wrote. I'm not sure if אבא'לה (abba'leh - daddy) is used as often as אמא'לה (ima'leh - mummy) is but that is the opposite end of the "formality scale".

Personally, I don't find flashcards effective but if they are for you, then each to their own.


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