ba3 باع
Moroccan Darija · verb
“ba3” (باع) is a verb in Moroccan Darija meaning to sell.
Meanings
- to sell
- to betray, to sell out
Usage
Ba3 is the usual verb for "to sell". The imperfect is ybi3 ("he sells") and the habitual present is kaybi3. The participle bya3 means "seller". The fixed expression "ba3 o chra" means "to trade", literally "to sell and buy". Figuratively, "ba3 fih" or "ba3 sahbo" means to betray someone, to sell them out. Note that the price is built with b-: "ba3ha b alf dirham" (he sold it for a thousand dirhams). To say "cheap", add b rkhis.
Example
راه باع دكسي كمال
rah ba3 dkxi kamal
“He sold everything.”
Conjugation
Forms as recorded in DODa and reproduced in its spelling, which often leaves out short vowels.
| Imperfective (present) | Perfective (past) | Imperative | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ana (I) | kanbi3 | b3t | |
| nta (you, m.) | katbi3 | b3ti | bi3 |
| nti (you, f.) | katbi3i | b3ti | bi3i |
| howa (he) | kaybi3 | ba3 | |
| hiya (she) | katbi3 | ba3t | |
| 7na (we) | kanbi3o | b3na | |
| ntouma (you, pl.) | katbi3o | b3to | bi3o |
| homa (they) | kaybi3o | ba3o |
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “ba3” but also “baa3”. 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 Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “to sell”; “to betray (figurative)”: ba3 in Algerian.
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.