Bae is an affectionate word for your boyfriend or girlfriend. People use it to caption photos of the two of them, to talk about their partner to friends and to address them in messages; the tone is tender and informal. Outside your close circle, for example with a colleague or in IELTS Speaking, say my boyfriend, my girlfriend or the neutral my partner, and don't use bae in an essay.
Could you drop bae into a text?
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my bae; me and bae; dinner/weekend with bae; hey, bae
- Bae remembered my big presentation and texted me good luck before I even woke up.
- Just booked a weekend in Edinburgh for me and bae, so excited!
- Hey bae, I'll pick up dinner on my way home, pizza or sushi?
What changed
First versionDear Mr Harris, I'd like to take Friday off because it's my bae's birthday.
RevisionDear Mr Harris, I'd like to take Friday off because it's my partner's birthday.
You ask your manager for a day off, so the email to Mr Harris is a work email, and an affectionate word like bae is out of place in it. It's been replaced with partner: a neutral word that doesn't say whether you mean a boyfriend or a girlfriend.
Close to it are babe and baby, which are mainly forms of address, including out loud: Thanks, babe. Bae can be a form of address too, but in posts and captions it's often used like a name, without my or an article: Movie night with bae.
Your turn
Happy anniversary to my ___! One year of dating and I still get butterflies.
Show the answer
bae — One year of dating means a relationship anniversary, and butterflies means being in love, so bae fits. Bestie is a best friend: you don't date your bestie, so the word doesn't go with talk of dating.
Text a friend explaining why you can't meet up at the weekend. Use bae and say where you're going instead.
Can't join you on Saturday, bae and I are going to a jazz concert at the Barbican.
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