Clock and calendar: bostetan, otsailean
The hour Basque puts into the locative case together with the number: root + -tan merge into one word — bostetan — at five (o'clock), zortzietan — at eight: Lana bostetan amaitzen da — the work ends at five. The answer to "zer ordu da?" comes in the plural: bostak dira — it is five o'clock. For example: “Denda bostetan ixten da” — The shop closes at five. A rule from the Basque course: worked out on examples, not…
How it works
The hour Basque puts into the locative case together with the number: root + -tan merge into one word — bostetan — at five (o'clock), zortzietan — at eight: Lana bostetan amaitzen da — the work ends at five. The answer to "zer ordu da?" comes in the plural: bostak dira — it is five o'clock.
The month takes -an without contraction: otsailean — in February, abuztuan — in August, urtarrilean — in January (wave 1). The same suffix serves the days: astelehenetan — on Mondays. The year — urtean — in the year.
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?
The hour Basque puts into the locative case together with the number: root + -tan merge into one word — bostetan — at five (o'clock), zortzietan — at eight: Lana bostetan amaitzen da — the work ends at five. The answer to "zer ordu da?" comes in the plural: bostak dira — it is five o'clock.
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.