LingoflyOrdinals beyond the third and fractions: laugarren, erdia, heren
An ordinal number is built from the number and the tail -garren: lau → laugarren — fourth, bost → bosgarren — fifth, hamar → hamargarren — tenth. So are bigarren — second and hirugarren — third. Only "first" is special: lehen or lehenengo. For example: “Laugarren solairuan bizi naiz, bostehun metroko ibilbidean” — I live on the fourth floor, five hundred meters along the way. A rule from the Basque course: worked…
How it works
An ordinal number is built from the number and the tail -garren: lau → laugarren — fourth, bost → bosgarren — fifth, hamar → hamargarren — tenth. So are bigarren — second and hirugarren — third. Only "first" is special: lehen or lehenengo.
Fractions have their own line: erdi — half, heren — third, laurden — quarter. bi heren — two thirds, hiru laurden — three quarters. After any number the noun drops its article: berrehun ogi — two hundred loaves, not "ogiak".
Table
| the form | the meaning | the example |
|---|---|---|
| … + garren | the ordinal | laugarren, bosgarren, hamargarren |
| erdi / heren / laurden | half / third / quarter | ordu erdi — half an hour |
| number + thing | no article | berrehun ogi, bi heren |
By example
- Ehungarren bezeroak oparia hartzen duThe hundredth customer takes the present
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
Ordinals beyond the third and fractions: how does it work in Basque?
An ordinal number is built from the number and the tail -garren: lau → laugarren — fourth, bost → bosgarren — fifth, hamar → hamargarren — tenth. So are bigarren — second and hirugarren — third. Only "first" is special: lehen or lehenengo.
What does it look like in a Basque example sentence?
“Laugarren solairuan bizi naiz, bostehun metroko ibilbidean” — I live on the fourth floor, five hundred meters along the way. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.