Questions with the particle al
A question mark is not enough in Basque. A yes-or-no question is built with the particle al, which stands before the auxiliary verb. For example: “Ura al dago?” — Is there water?. A rule from the Basque course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
A question mark is not enough in Basque. A yes-or-no question is built with the particle al, which stands before the auxiliary verb.
Ura dago? — is there water? (by the tune of the voice) → Ura al dago? — is there water? (a plain question). Without "al" the phrase reads as a double check: "so there is water, you say?".
Question words need no "al": zer — what, nola — how, non — where, zenbat — how much. They turn the phrase into a question by themselves.
By example
- Ura al dago?Is there water?
- Ingelesez hitz egiten al duzu?Do you speak English?
- Non dago geltokia?Where is the station? (a question word — no al)
How the rule settles in your head
A rule is not memorized from an explanation. It is memorized from an attempt to use it and a mistake — that is why the app delivers it mixed in with words, not as a separate lesson: it resurfaces exactly where you forgot it.
Frequently asked
Questions with the particle al: how does it work in Basque?
A question mark is not enough in Basque. A yes-or-no question is built with the particle al, which stands before the auxiliary verb.
What does it look like in an example sentence Basque?
“Ura al dago?” — Is there water?. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.