ba3 باع
Algerian Darja · verb
“ba3” (باع) is a verb in Algerian Darja meaning to sell.
Meanings
- to sell
- to betray (figurative)
Usage
Ba3 is the common verb for "to sell". The present tense is ybi3, "he sells", and the imperative is bi3, "sell". The passive form tba3 means "to be sold". The opposite is chra / yechri, "to buy", and the two are often used together: el-bi3 w ech-chra, "trade, buying and selling". Figuratively, ba3 dmiru means "he sold his conscience", and ba3ni, "he betrayed me". The object follows the verb directly. The person you sell to is introduced by l: ba3hali, "he sold it to me".
Example
باع طوموبيلتو باش يشري دار
ba3 tomobiltou bach yechri dar
“He sold his car to buy a house.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “ba3” but also “baa3”, “ba3a” and “bae”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 3 is ayn (ع), a voiced sound from deep in the throat with no English equivalent.
Type “ba3” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “to sell”; “to betray, to sell out”: ba3 in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “to sell”; “to betray, sell out”: ba3 in Tunisian.