LingoflyClothes without counting: collectives
arropa — clothes: Basque counts them as a mass, with no plural and no counting. Arropa erosi dut — "I bought clothes"; how many pieces, the language does not say. For example: “Arropa berria erosi dut” — I bought clothes. A rule from the Basque course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
arropa — clothes: Basque counts them as a mass, with no plural and no counting. Arropa erosi dut — "I bought clothes"; how many pieces, the language does not say.
You can still count. Thing by thing: jaka bat — one jacket. Piece by piece with the word ale: bi ale — two pieces. Paired things are plural by themselves: botak, galtzerdiak, prakak.
English plurals that Basque keeps single: ilea — hair, arropa — clothes. "Long hair" is ile luzea, word for word "hair long".
Table
| plural in English | in Basque | how to count |
|---|---|---|
| clothes | arropa (sing.) | jaka bat — one jacket |
| hair | ilea (sing.) | ile luzea — long hair |
| boots | botak (pl.) | botak berriak — new boots |
By example
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
Clothes without counting: how does it work in Basque?
arropa — clothes: Basque counts them as a mass, with no plural and no counting. Arropa erosi dut — "I bought clothes"; how many pieces, the language does not say.
What does it look like in a Basque example sentence?
“Arropa berria erosi dut” — I bought clothes. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.