LingoflyAbout: bat, gutxi gorabehera, ia
An approximate number takes the word bat after the numeral: berrogei bat — about forty, ehun bat pertsona — a hundred or so people. For example: “Hamar bat lagun etorri dira” — About ten people came. A rule from the Basque course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
An approximate number takes the word bat after the numeral: berrogei bat — about forty, ehun bat pertsona — a hundred or so people.
The wider formula is gutxi gorabehera — "more or less": Gutxi gorabehera ehun euro behar ditut — I need about a hundred euros. "Almost" has its own word, ia: Ia bi ordu aritu gara bidean — we walked almost two hours.
Table
| in English | how to say | the example |
|---|---|---|
| about ten | hamar bat | hamar bat lagun — some ten people |
| about a hundred | gutxi gorabehera ehun | gutxi gorabehera ehun euro |
| almost two | ia bi | ia bi ordu — almost two hours |
By example
- I need about a hundred euros
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
About: how does it work in Basque?
An approximate number takes the word bat after the numeral: berrogei bat — about forty, ehun bat pertsona — a hundred or so people.
What does it look like in a Basque example sentence?
“Hamar bat lagun etorri dira” — About ten people came. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.