Meaning & use
baa
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Meanings
interjection
A word used to represent the crying sound that a sheep or goat makes.
Grammar: Used alone or repeated, especially in children's stories: 'Baa! Baa!'
Patterns
- Baa!
- baa baa
The little lamb opened its mouth and went 'baa'.
Baa! Baa! cried the sheep in the field.
She taught the children to say 'baa' like a sheep.
nouncountable
The crying sound made by a sheep or goat.
Grammar: Countable: you can say a baa or the baas of the sheep.
Patterns
- a baa
- the baa of a sheep
We heard a faint baa from the hillside.
The baas of the flock grew louder as we approached.
A single baa came from the barn.
verbintransitive
To make the crying sound of a sheep or goat.
Grammar: No object; the subject is an animal: The sheep baaed.
Patterns
- baa at someone
- baa loudly
The sheep baaed loudly at the gate.
A goat was baaing in the distance.
The lambs baaed for their mothers.
Word forms
| third person singular | baas |
|---|---|
| past tense | baaed |
| past participle | baaed |
| -ing form | baaing |
| plural | baas |
Common combinations
- baa loudly
- The sheep baaed loudly when it saw the farmer.
- a loud baa
- We heard a loud baa from the shed.
- baa at
- The goat baaed at us through the fence.
Synonyms and how they differ
Word family
- baaing noun
- The act or sound of sheep or goats baaing.
Commonly confused: baa or bah?
baa vs bah
Bah is an interjection showing disapproval or annoyance, not the sound of a sheep.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'baa' correctly as a verb?
Choose one answer.
As a verb, baa means to make the sound, and the sheep is the subject: The sheep baaed. Option 2 is missing a word and has the wrong tense; option 3 wrongly makes the farmer the one baaing; option 4 mixes a noun and a past tense incorrectly.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “baa”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.