Clock and calendar: bostetan, otsailean
Basque joins the hour to the number in one word with -tan: bostetan — at five, zortzietan — at eight. Lana bostetan amaitzen da — work ends at five. The answer to "zer ordu da?" comes in the plural: bostak dira — it is five. For example: “Denda bostetan ixten da” — The shop closes at five. A rule from the Basque course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
Basque joins the hour to the number in one word with -tan: bostetan — at five, zortzietan — at eight. Lana bostetan amaitzen da — work ends at five. The answer to "zer ordu da?" comes in the plural: bostak dira — it is five.
The month takes -an with no merging: otsailean — in February, abuztuan — in August, urtarrilean — in January. The same tail serves the days: astelehenetan — on Mondays. A year takes it too: urtean.
Table
| with what | the form | the example |
|---|---|---|
| the hour | number + -tan | bostetan, zortzietan |
| the month | month + -an | otsailean, abuztuan |
| what time is it? | Zer ordu da? | bostak dira |
By example
- Denda bostetan ixten daThe shop closes at five
- Otsailean elurra izaten daIn February there is snow
- Astelehenetan zazpietan esnatzen naizOn Mondays I wake up at seven
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
Clock and calendar: how does it work in Basque?
Basque joins the hour to the number in one word with -tan: bostetan — at five, zortzietan — at eight. Lana bostetan amaitzen da — work ends at five. The answer to "zer ordu da?" comes in the plural: bostak dira — it is five.
What does it look like in an example sentence Basque?
“Denda bostetan ixten da” — The shop closes at five. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.