Questions with the particle al
A question mark is not enough for Basque: a yes/no question is built by 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 for Basque: a yes/no question is built by the particle al, which stands before the auxiliary verb.
Ura dago? — is there water? (by intonation) → Ura al dago? — is there water? (a plain question). Without "al", a phrase with a question mark reads as a recheck: "so there is water, you say?".
Question words — zer (what), nola (how), non (where), zenbat (how much) — do not need "al": they make the phrase a question on their own.
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 for Basque: a yes/no question is built by 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.