Bavli / Jewish Babylonian Aramaic · High-Frequency JBA Action Words

הוה, בעי, מצי

JBA-008Jewish Babylonian AramaicBavli and JBA discourse

ORIGINAL LANGUAGE FIRST

הֲוָה · בָּעֵי · מָצֵי

Pedagogical transliterationhava · ba'ei · matsei

Plain meaningwas/is/happened by context · wants/needs/asks · can/is able

Any vocalization or pronunciation shown here is pedagogical unless the cited source itself is pointed.

WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING AT

הוה, בעי, מצי

These three verbs are everywhere in the Bavli. הוה belongs to the “be/become” family and participates in many idioms. בעי can mean wants, needs, asks, or raises a question depending on the construction. מצי expresses ability: “can/is able.” The learner should meet each in several authentic sentences because one English gloss is not enough.

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SEE HOW IT WORKS

Keep the form, reading, and meaning together.

הֲוָה · בָּעֵי · מָצֵי

ORIGINAL

JBA-008

hava · ba'ei · matsei

READING

Pedagogical reading guide

was/is/happened by context · wants/needs/asks · can/is able

MEANING

Jewish Babylonian Aramaic

REMEMBER

הוה, בעי, מצי

High-frequency JBA verbs often have several recurring discourse senses.