# Croatian (BCS): Baš



## Santanawinds

While translating some texts, I noticed I often have a problem with this word 'baš'
Baš ova riječ me mući!

So let's see how would you translate 'baš' in various instances, and can you think of some more examples that aren't covered here?

1.Ti si baš taj kojeg trebam!

2.Baš sutra idem u grad

3.Možda baš tada ti padne klavir s neba


possible translations:
'the very'
'just'

What I have come up with so far:
1.You are the very person I need ... or ... you are just the one I need
3. ??? help!
3.Maybe just then a piano falls from the sky


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## kloie

It also means (really) I hope i am right on this.
here is the title of a song Nisam ti ja baš bilo tko-I am not just anybody to you


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## VelikiMag

Word _baš_ is an intensifier and not always it needs a literal translation. But if it had to be translated, I would go with _exactly__._ Or _just_.

1. _You're exactly the one who I need_. Your version is also fine.

2. This sentence can be translated in several ways, depending on context. '_Idem u grad_' can mean '_I'm going to the city_' (because I live in a village), or it can mean '_I'm going out in the evening_'.
So one of the possible translations could be: _It is exactly tomorrow when I'll go to the city._ It sounds a bit clumsy though.
Or, as you have suggested: _Tomorrow is the very day_ _when_...

3. Your version is fine.

Synonym for _baš_ is _upravo_.


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## yael*

kloie said:


> It also means (really) I hope i am right on this.
> here is the title of a song Nisam ti ja baš bilo tko-I am not just anybody to you



Yes, you are right. Baš tako!


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## yael*

VelikiMag said:


> Synonym for _baš_ is _upravo_.



As we all know, there are no absolute synonyms. You can replace with _baš_ with _upravo_ in "baš je tad ustao" "upravo je tad ustao" (although I would opt for baš in this case, too), but not in "_baš je lepa", "baš si tvrdoglav", "baš ste Balkanci", "e, baš, neću", "nije baš pristojno"..._ In these cases you can replace it with _veoma_, _mnogo_, _zaista_ or _stvarno_.
In santanawind's example:_ "baš me ova reč muči", the options are two, depending on where the emphasis is meant to be: upravo me ova reč muči - _meaning:_ it's *this (very) word* I am having trouble with" _or_ "ova me reč stvarno (_or_ mnogo) muči" - _meaning:_ this word troubles me *a lot/really *troubles me.
_Anyway, we use/abuse this word frequently (at least in Serbia). I think the only intensifier I use more than this one is_ bre. _Both of them can be translated simply by ending your sentence with an exclamation mark or, if it's a question combine the question mark with exclamation point (?!).


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## VelikiMag

yael* said:


> As we all know, there are no absolute synonyms. You can replace with _baš_ with _upravo_ in "baš je tad ustao" "upravo je tad ustao" (although I would opt for baš in this case, too), but not in "_baš je lepa", "baš si tvrdoglav", "baš ste Balkanci", "e, baš, neću", "nije baš pristojno"..._ In these cases you can eplace it with _veoma_, _mnogo_, _zaista_ or _stvarno_.


I had in mind OP's examples, not all the possible examples where one can put in word _baš_. And I also had in mind the one which you later wrote yourself: _baš _tako - _upravo tako_.


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## yael*

Sorry, I took your final sentence as a general rule, not referred only to OP.


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## VelikiMag

It's alright. One more thing here, to make it clear for the OP, although it seems he/she knows a lot already. The original example was: _Baš ova riječ me muči!_ Here the only possible translation is: _It is this very word I am having trouble with_. Because this word order leaves no place for other interpretations.


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## Santanawinds

č/ć - thanks! 

Yael said:
"Anyway, we use/abuse this word frequently (at least in Serbia)..."

The same goes in Croatia, and that may be one of the problems with this word. For instance, with the example 'baš sutra idem u grad' - the meaning depends on the context.
So one example would be in a conversation:
person 1: Moram posuditi knjigu iz knjižnice
person 2: baš sutra idem u grad, mogu ti ja to pokupiti.

I'm at a loss as to how to translate the 'baš' when used like that. So I'd just translate it as: I'm going to town tomorow, so I can pick it up for you ...
etc.


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## yael*

Well... You need a book and - what a coincidence! - I am going  (I happen to be going) to the city and I can buy it for you.
Like, you're lucky, I can solve your problem quickly.
Makes sense?


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## Santanawinds

Yes, that should solve my dilema!
So 'baš' is not necessarily 'exactly', 'just', or 'really'. It can sometimes be more of an exclamation, such as 'well' or 'luck you'., or even maybe in some cases 'what a coincidence!'

At first I thought the proper translation of this last example would be: Exactly tomorrow I'm going to town... which doesn't sound right in English.


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## yael*

Yes, it's just an intensifier like "_bre_" (more colloquial). Sometimes it's really enough to put the exclamation point. Or: _Look_, I am going to town, I can buy it...
You can even hear a double baš - _Baš baš_, it's serves to emphasize the correctness of the interlocutor's or your previous statement. Like it's exactly right, a pleonasm. Or, followed by adjective, to reinforce the judgment: _baš baš glup_ = a total idiot.


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## Krvavica

Dvostruko "baš" je nešto što ja, rođena i živim cijeli život u Hrvatskoj, nisam nikad čula. 

To complicate the things, "baš" can also mean "at this very moment". In this case, it can be used instead of "upravo". Example: "Baš ovaj čas idem nekaj pojesti"


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## DenisBiH

Krvavica said:


> Dvostruko "baš" je nešto što ja, rođena i živim cijeli život u Hrvatskoj, nisam nikad čula.



E ovo je baš čudno, al' ono baš baš.


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## Krvavica

Čuj, ono, baš i nije. 
Kao svakodnevni govornik, pokušavam pomoći ljudima koji uče hrvatski jezik.


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