English uses for to introduce a price and with or by to introduce a tool or means. Hebrew uses the same one-letter prefix for both: ב־. You buy something ב־50 שקל, write בעט, travel באוטובוס and pay בכרטיס אשראי.
Locative ב־ is covered on the core ב־ page, and the choice between place and destination is on ב־ or ל־. Here the common logic is the terms or means through which an event happens: at a certain price, using a certain instrument, in a certain manner.
Price: Hebrew says ב־ where English says “for”
The price follows ב־ directly. With a number written in digits, write the prefix and the numeral with a Hebrew maqaf: ב־50, using U+05BE ־, not the ASCII hyphen -.
קניתי את זה ב־50 שקל בשוק.
kaníti et ze bekhamishím shékel bashúk
I bought this for 50 shekels at the market. (neutral)
הם מכרו את הדירה במיליון וחצי.
hem makhrú et hadirá bemilyón vakhetsí
They sold the flat for one and a half million. (neutral)
בכמה קנית את האופניים האלה?
bekamá kaníta et ha'ofanáyim ha'éle?
How much did you buy this bike for? (to a man; informal)
אפשר להשיג כרטיסים בחצי מחיר דרך האתר.
efshár lehasíg kartisím bakhatsí mekhír dérekh ha'atár
You can get tickets at half price through the website. (neutral)
The learner temptation is עבור, because it also translates as for. עבור is natural for a beneficiary (“for you”), a purpose, or formal wording about consideration and payment. It is not the ordinary marker attached to the number that states a retail price. In a shop, a message or casual conversation, make בכמה? — ב־50 שקל automatic.
Instrument and means
The same ב־ marks what you use to carry out an action. A tool is not a companion: it functions as the means by which the event is completed.
כתבתי את ההערה בעט כחול.
katávti et haha'ará be'ét kakhól
I wrote the note in blue pen. (neutral, all-register)
פתחתי את הדלת במפתח הרזרבי.
patákhti et hadélet bamaftéakh harezérvi
I opened the door with the spare key. (neutral, all-register)
נסענו באוטובוס כי לא מצאנו חנייה.
nasánu ba'ótobus ki lo matsánu khanayá
We went by bus because we couldn't find parking. (neutral)
שילמתי בכרטיס אשראי וקיבלתי קבלה במייל.
shilámti bekhartís ashrái vekibálti kabalá baméil
I paid by credit card and received a receipt by email. (neutral)
דיברנו בטלפון וסיכמנו להיפגש מחר.
dibárnu batélefon vesikámnu lehipagésh makhár
We spoke by phone and agreed to meet tomorrow. (neutral)
ב־ or עם? Sort the relationship, not the noun
The careful all-register distinction is means ב־ versus accompaniment עם. Current informal Israeli Hebrew often extends עם to instruments—כתבתי עם עט is a real colloquial sentence, not gibberish. Use ב־ as the neutral form across registers, and recognise instrumental עם in conversation.
| Noun | Natural phrase | Relation |
|---|---|---|
| דנה | באתי עם דנה | person accompanying you → עם |
| חבר | נסעתי עם חבר | person accompanying you → עם |
| הילדים | יצאתי עם הילדים | people accompanying you → עם |
| הכלב | הלכתי עם הכלב | animal accompanying you → עם |
| עט | כתבתי בעט | instrument used → ב־ |
| סכין | חתכתי בסכין | instrument used → ב־ |
| אוטובוס | נסעתי באוטובוס | means of transport → ב־ |
| כרטיס אשראי | שילמתי בכרטיס אשראי | means of payment → ב־ |
| טלפון | דיברתי בטלפון | communication medium → ב־ |
| מפתח | יצאתי עם המפתח / פתחתי במפתח | carried along → עם; used as tool → ב־ |
The last row proves why “people versus things” is only a first approximation. The same key takes עם when it merely accompanies you and ב־ when you use it as an instrument.
יצאתי עם המפתח בכיס, אבל בסוף פתחתי את הדלת בקוד.
yatsáti im hamáfteakh bakís, avál basóf patákhti et hadélet bekód
I went out with the key in my pocket, but in the end I opened the door with a code. (accompaniment/possession, then means)
פתחתי במפתח שמצאתי ליד החלון.
patákhti bamaftéakh shematsáti leyád hakhalón
I opened it with the key I found by the window. (instrument)
Manner, language and rate
Instrument shades naturally into a broader “means or manner” relation. Hebrew productively turns ב־ + abstract noun into an adverbial: בשקט “quietly,” בזהירות “carefully,” במהירות “quickly.” Languages and rates use the same letter.
תנהג בזהירות, הכביש עדיין רטוב.
tinhág bizhirút, hakvísh adáyin ratóv
Drive carefully; the road is still wet. (to a man; neutral)
הם דיברו באנגלית כדי שכולם יבינו.
hem dibrú be'anglít kdei shekulám yavínu
They spoke in English so that everyone would understand. (neutral)
אני מתאמנת פעמיים בשבוע בבוקר.
aní mit'aménet pa'amáyim bashavúa babóker
I work out twice a week in the morning. (f. speaker; neutral)
This is a productive pattern, not a promise that every English adverb can be recreated mechanically. Learn frequent combinations as chunks. The larger system belongs on ב־ plus a noun.
The inflected forms
The same ב־ also combines with interrogatives and pronouns: בכמה “for how much,” בו “with it,” בהם “by means of them.” Its pronominal paradigm is the same one used by locative and verb-governed ב־.
| Meaning | Form | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| in/by/with me | בִּי | bi |
| in/by/with you m. sg. | בְּךָ | bekhá |
| in/by/with you f. sg. | בָּךְ | bakh |
| in/by/with him or it m. | בּוֹ | bo |
| in/by/with her or it f. | בָּהּ | ba |
| in/by/with us | בָּנוּ | bánu |
| in/by/with you m./mixed pl. | בָּכֶם | bakhém |
| in/by/with you f. pl. | בָּכֶן | bakhén |
| in/by/with them m./mixed | בָּהֶם | bahém |
| in/by/with them f. | בָּהֶן | bahén |
The forms are drilled in depth on בי, בך, בו. One stress contrast is worth repeating because even niqqud cannot resolve it: בָּנוּ is bánu “in/by us” but banú “they built.”
הצוות תלוי בנו כדי לגמור את העבודה היום.
hatsévet talúy bánu kdei ligmór et ha'avodá hayóm
The team is depending on us to finish the work today. (בָּנוּ bánu = on us; neutral)
השכנים בנו קיר חדש בין החצרות.
hashkhením banú kir khadásh bein hakhatserót
The neighbours built a new wall between the yards. (בָּנוּ banú = they built; neutral)
Common Mistakes
1. Treating עבור as the ordinary price marker. עבור can occur in formal payment language, so it should not be condemned as meaningless. The transferable everyday frame, however, attaches ב־ to the amount.
✅ קניתי את זה ב־50 שקל וקיבלתי עודף.
kaníti et ze bekhamishím shékel vekibálti odéf
I bought it for 50 shekels and got change. (neutral everyday price)
✅ התשלום עבור השירות יועבר עד סוף החודש.
hatashlúm avúr hasherút yu'avár ad sof hakhódesh
Payment for the service will be transferred by the end of the month. (formal/administrative עבור)
2. Using comitative עם for a vehicle as means. A bus is the means of travel, so neutral Hebrew uses ב־.
❌ נסעתי עם אוטובוס לעבודה.
Incorrect for 'I travelled to work by bus' — the vehicle as means takes ב־: נסעתי באוטובוס.
✅ נסעתי באוטובוס לעבודה כי האוטו במוסך.
nasáti ba'ótobus la'avodá ki ha'óto bamusákh
I went to work by bus because the car is at the garage. (neutral)
3. Condemning every instrumental עם. This is a register choice, so both examples are grammatical.
✅ מילאתי את הטופס עם עט כחול שמצאתי על השולחן.
miléti et hatófes im et kakhól shematsáti al hashulkhán
I filled in the form with a blue pen I found on the table. (informal colloquial instrumental עם)
✅ מילאתי את הטופס בעט כחול שמצאתי על השולחן.
miléti et hatófes be'ét kakhól shematsáti al hashulkhán
I filled in the form with a blue pen I found on the table. (neutral, all-register instrumental ב־)
Key Takeaways
- Price takes ב־: בכמה? ב־50 שקל, במיליון, בחצי מחיר.
- Before digits, join the prefix with a Hebrew maqaf: ב־50, not
ב-50. - Tools, vehicles, payment methods and communication media take instrumental ב־.
- Careful Hebrew contrasts means ב־ with accompaniment עם. Colloquial instrumental עם is real, but ב־ works across registers.
- Manner, language and rate extend the same pattern: בזהירות, בעברית, פעמיים בשבוע.
- The suffix paradigm is בי, בך, בו, בה, בנו and the corresponding plural forms; בנו depends on stress for its reading.
Now practice Hebrew
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Start learning Hebrew →Related Topics
- ב־: In, At, With (Instrument)A1 — One letter covers what English splits across in, at, on and instrumental with. ב־ marks places, times and means; careful Hebrew prefers it for a tool, while current colloquial speech also extends עם to instruments.
- ב + Noun as an Adverb: בשקט, בזהירות, במהירותA2 — Hebrew's most general adverb machine: glue ב־ onto an abstract noun and you have a manner adverb. No vocabulary list can close the class, because you can build a new one from any abstract noun you know — and the definite article never, ever gets inside.
- Age, Money and MeasurementsB1 — The everyday structures for age, prices, currency, and measurement—and why omitted nouns and foreign units change the agreement and plural patterns.
- Money, Prices and BargainingB1 — The phrases for asking, paying and pushing back on a price — plus the two things learners get wrong that are not vocabulary: the creditor takes ל and never את, and על marks what you paid for while ב marks what you paid with. With Ravid's study of what Israeli numerals are actually doing to gender.