How the Gemara argues

Grammar patterns

A sugya is built out of a few stock Aramaic phrases: one asks, one infers, one compares, one answers. Learn the patterns and the page stops looking like a wall of text. Every example below is quoted from the stated page.

Bava Kamma 2a

מאי
mai
What is it?
The Gemara stops on a word and asks what it means or what it points to.
ומאי איכא בין אב לתולדה
Bava Kamma 2a:8
WHAT DOES IT DO HERE?
מכלל
mikhlel
It follows that…
A small clue in the wording is used to infer something the text did not say directly.
מכלל דאיכא תולדות
Bava Kamma 2a:5
WHAT DOES IT DO HERE?
מדקתני
middekatanei
From the fact that it teaches…
Points at one word in the Mishnah and builds a question on it.
מדקתני אבות
Bava Kamma 2a:5
WHAT DOES IT DO HERE?
נפקא מינה
nafka minnah
What difference does it make?
Asks for the practical result of a difference in the law.
נפקא מינה
Bava Kamma 2a:8
WHAT DOES IT DO HERE?
לא שנא
la shena
It makes no difference
Say two cases are treated the same way.
לא שנא אב חטאת
Bava Kamma 2a:7
WHAT DOES IT DO HERE?

Bava Kamma 2b

תנו רבנן
tanu rabanan
The Sages taught
Opens a baraita — a teaching that stands outside the Mishnah.
תנו רבנן שלשה אבות נאמרו בשור
Bava Kamma 2b:3
WHAT DOES IT DO HERE?
דתניא
de-tanya
As it was taught
Brings a baraita as support in the middle of the discussion.
קרן מנלן דתנו רבנן כי יגח
Bava Kamma 2b:4
WHAT DOES IT DO HERE?
מנלן
mena len
Where do we learn it?
Asks for the source of a law: a verse, or a tradition.
קרן מנלן
Bava Kamma 2b:4
WHAT DOES IT DO HERE?
תא שמע
ta shema
Come and hear
Offers a teaching that settles the question being discussed.
תא שמע
Bava Kamma 2b:5
WHAT DOES IT DO HERE?
מהו דתימא
maḥu dteima
What might you have said?
Raises the mistake someone could make, so the text can push it away.
אלא מהו דתימא
Bava Kamma 2b:7
WHAT DOES IT DO HERE?
אימא
ima
I would say
The Gemara offers its own reading of a verse.
אימא כולה מועדת היא
Bava Kamma 2b:7
WHAT DOES IT DO HERE?
אילימא
ileima
If we say…
Tries one reading, checks what it leads to, and tests whether it works.
אילימא אהני
Bava Kamma 2b:17
WHAT DOES IT DO HERE?
קא משמע לן
ka mashma lan
It teaches us
States the new lesson a passage actually delivers.
ומלתא אגב אורחיה קא משמע לן
Bava Kamma 2b:13
WHAT DOES IT DO HERE?

Bava Kamma 3a

סלקא דעתך
salka daatekh
It might enter your mind
Names an idea the reader could reach, then teaches why it is not so.
אצטריך סלקא דעתך אמינא
Bava Kamma 3a:4
WHAT DOES IT DO HERE?
הא לא קשיא
ha la qashiya
This is not a difficulty
Shows that two teachings that looked against each other are really about different cases.
הא לא קשיא
Bava Kamma 3a:19
WHAT DOES IT DO HERE?
אמר מר
amar mar
The Master said
Repeats a phrase from a teaching that was just quoted, then asks about it.
אמר מר ושלח זו הרגל
Bava Kamma 3a:2
WHAT DOES IT DO HERE?

Berakhot 2a

מאימתי
me-eimatai
From when?
Opens a tractate by asking when a duty begins and when it ends.
מאימתי קורין את שמע בערבין
Berakhot 2a:1
WHAT DOES IT DO HERE?
היכא קאי
heika kai
What is it standing on?
Asks what source the teacher had, or which verse the teaching leans on.
תנא היכא קאי דקתני מאימתי
Berakhot 2a:6
WHAT DOES IT DO HERE?
סיפא
seifa
The second clause
Splits a teaching into its first clause (רישא) and its second clause (סיפא), and compares them.
סיפא דקתני
Berakhot 2a:10
WHAT DOES IT DO HERE?
פריש
parish
He went back and explained
The teacher explains one topic fully, then returns to the earlier one.
והדר פריש מילי דערבית
Berakhot 2a:11
WHAT DOES IT DO HERE?

These pages show how the discussion moves. They are not the whole chapter — read them with a teacher where you can.