ば

See also: ほ, は, ぱ, and Appendix:Variations of "pa"

ば U+3070, ば
HIRAGANA LETTER BA
Composition:は [U+306F] + ◌゙ [U+3099]
← は
[U+306F] 		Hiragana ぱ →
[U+3071]

Japanese

Stroke order

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ba̠]

Etymology 1

The hiragana character は (ha) with a dakuten (゛).

Syllable

ば (romaji ba)

  1. The hiragana syllable ば (ba). Its equivalent in katakana is バ (ba).
See also

Etymology 2

Noun

ば (rōmaji ba)

  1. 場: a place; (physics) a field

Counter

ば (rōmaji -ba)

  1. 場: sections of a play

Etymology 3

Particle

ば (rōmaji ba)

  1. if; when
    • c. late 9th – mid-10th century, Taketori Monogatari
      それを見れば、三寸ばかりなる人いと美しうて居たり。
      When he looked at it, there sat a very lovely human being about three sun long.
    • 2007, yura (lyrics), Satoru Kousaki (music), “キラメキラリ”, in THE IDOLM@STER MASTER ARTIST 02 Takatsuki Yayoi:
      宇 (う)宙 (ちゅう)から見 (み)れば地 (ち)球 (きゅう)も流 (なが)れ星 (ぼし)
      uchū kara mireba chikyū mo nagareboshi
      If you see from the universe the earth is also a shooting star
    私 (わたし)はあなたが隣 (となり)に居 (い)てくれればそれで幸 (しあわ)せなの！
    Watashi wa anata ga tonari ni ite kurereba sore de shiawase nano!
    I'll be happy as long as you are by my side.
  2. (used with ほど) the more ..., the more
    学 (まな)べば学 (まな)ぶほど、何 (なに)も知 (し)らなかった事 (こと)に気 (き)づく
    Manabeba manabu hodo, nani mo shiranakatta koto ni kizuku
    The more I learned, the more I felt I didn't know anything.
  3. (used with も) Links items in parallel; ... and ...
    日 (に)本 (ほん)語 (ご)もできれば英 (えい)語 (ご)もできる
    nihongo mo dekireba eigo mo dekiru
    to be able to speak both Japanese and English
Usage notes
  • The hypothetical conditional is formed by attaching ば (ba) to the 仮定形 of a verb or adjective in modern Japanese. This is done to the 未然形 in classical Japanese, which persists in a few set phrases like ならば (nara ba) and 例えば (tatoeba) in modern Japanese.
  • There is also 已然形 + ば in classical Japanese, which looks like 仮定形 + ば in modern Japanese, but introduces something occurred as a cause, occasion or circumstance.
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