LingoflyBasque (Euskara)
Basque — a language isolate: no relatives have ever been found, about 750 thousand active speakers (estimate, sociolinguistic surveys of the Basque Country). Script: the Latin alphabet, 27 letters; h is always written and almost never heard. This site has 3960 words and 27 letters with audio.
Try one word
Demo language: Basque
Read the card and choose an answer. No sound or sign-up needed.
eskerrik asko
thank you
Without JavaScript: read the card, choose an answer in your head and open the explanation.
1 / 2 · Choose an answer
eskerrik asko
- hi
- please (when asking)
- thank you
- goodbye
Show the answer
eskerrik asko
thank you
2 / 2 · Choose an answer
___ laguntzagatik
Thank you very much for the help
- agur
- Eskerrik asko
- mesedez
- kaixo
Show the answer
eskerrik asko
thank you
Two checks complete
eskerrik asko
thank you
This is a choice based on text. Conversation and remembering over time still need practice and checking.
How answers are counted
Answers stay on this page. Statistics include the demo stage, overall result, interface language and saved counter consent choice, without answer text or a profile.
Where to start
A young course: the words, the lessons and the recordings are all here, but a native speaker has not read it end to end yet. Spot a rough edge? Tell us and we will fix it.
- →Basque alphabetAll letters with sound
- →Basque wordsBy topic and alphabetically
- →PhrasebookPhrases ready to use
- →GrammarRules without jargon
- →Reading textsShort texts with translation
- →PronunciationWhat you hear and what is hard
- →From scratchWhere to start, and in what order
- →How long to studyAn honest estimate, with caveats
First words
Every conversation starts with them — and so does the first impression: one greeting in the local language and you stop being a stranger within a second.
- kaixohiThe all-hours greeting, morning or night. The natural next move is aupa — shouted in greeting and in approval alike
- egun ongood morningLiterally 'good day'. Said until lunchtime; egun itself is 'day'
- arratsalde ongood afternoonFor after lunch. Arratsalde is the second half of the day — the same word sits inside 'good evening'
- gabongood nightBoth a late-evening hello and a wish for the night — from gau on, 'good night'. The g here is a plain hard g
- agurgoodbyeThe farewell for everyone and every occasion — the word that stays with you after your first walk around Bilbao
- gero artesee you laterLiterally 'until later': gero is 'later', arte is 'until'. For someone you'll actually see again today
- eskerrik askothank youLiterally 'many thanks': esker is gratitude. To turn it up, mila esker — a thousand thanks
- mesedezplease (when asking)Polite request that lands at the END of the phrase: kafe bat, mesedez. The reply 'don't mention it' is ez dago zergatik
How it sounds
Five words spoken aloud: click the speaker and pick the translation. The sound works on any phone, and nothing needs to be installed.
- What is this word?
It is kaixo — hi.
- What is this word?
It is mesedez — please (when asking).
- What is this word?
It is ondo — well.
- What is this word?
It is nire izena — my name is.
- What is this word?
It is agur — goodbye.
Curiosities in Basque
Basque is the last living language isolate of Western Europe: no family in the world has managed to claim it. The Caucasian, Berber and Iberian hypotheses were taken apart one after another and fell away, and the language turned out to have no relatives at all.
R. L. Trask, «The History of Basque», Routledge, 1997
About the language
| Native name | Euskara · euskara |
| Other name | Euskara — the language’s own name, sometimes used in English as well |
| Official in | Spain (the Basque Country) and part of Navarre |
| Also spoken in | France (the Northern Basque Country) |
| How many speakers | about 750 thousand active speakers (estimate, [sociolinguistic surveys of the Basque Country](https://www.euskara.euskadi.eus/)) |
| Family | a language isolate: no relatives have ever been found |
| Script | the Latin alphabet, 27 letters; h is always written and almost never heard |
| Writing direction | left to right |
Hard: an isolate: not one word you already know, the verb at the end, and cases glued onto the noun.
Easy: reading is almost letter-for-letter, there is no gender at all, and five vowels that never blur.
What people most often take it up for: work in the Basque Country, the EGA exam for public service, roots and the language of the place.
How lessons work
A lesson is up to half an hour a day, split into three to five short sessions. A word comes back not on the course's schedule but at the moment you are about to forget it: the interval is computed by an algorithm from your own answers.
- The longer you want to keep a word, the longer the gap before reviewing it can be. To hold it for a week, review it after a day or two; to hold it for a year, after about three or four weeks.checked many timesCepeda et al., 2008, Psychological Science 19(11) · Over 1,350 participants, tested after delays of up to a year. The best gap is about 20–40% of the target interval when you need to remember for a week, and 5–10% when for a year.
- Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
- A material reward promised for doing a task lowers the wish to take it up of your own accord once the reward is gone. Praise for what was done, on the contrary, keeps that wish alive.checked many timesDeci, Koestner & Ryan, 1999, Psychological Bulletin 125(6) · 128 experiments. A material reward promised in advance and the time later spent on the task by free choice: d = −0.44 for finishing, −0.40 for taking part, −0.28 for performance; a reward unrelated to the task, −0.14, not significant. Praise: +0.33.
Frequently asked
Where to start learning Basque?
With the sounds and the first hundred words: you know the script, but it has its own reading rules.
How many people speak Basque?
About 750 thousand active speakers — an estimate; source: sociolinguistic surveys of the Basque Country. Nobody runs an exact census of languages, and sources disagree by noticeable amounts.
Is Basque hard?
An isolate: not one word you already know, the verb at the end, and cases glued onto the noun. At the same time, reading is almost letter-for-letter, there is no gender at all, and five vowels that never blur.
Where is Basque spoken?
An official language in: Spain (the Basque Country) and part of Navarre. Noticeable communities: France (the Northern Basque Country).
Are Euskara and Basque the same thing?
Yes, they are two names of one language. The native name is Euskara · euskara; “Euskara” is the language’s own name, sometimes used in English as well.
Is Basque in Duolingo?
No. As of September 18, 2026, Duolingo’s catalogue has no such course at all, from any language. We have Basque in full: 3960 words, with audio, a phrasebook and grammar in plain words.
Is Basque in Ling?
No. As of September 18, 2026, Ling’s catalogue has no such course at all, from any language. We have Basque in full: 3960 words, with audio, a phrasebook and grammar in plain words.