How: the question nola and a clause in … den
"How is this said?" Basque asks like this: Nola esaten den euskaraz? — literally "how is said-being in Basque?". Inside is the same relative form in -n that closed wave 5, here in a pair with the question word nola. For example: “Nola esaten den euskaraz?” — How is this said in Basque?. A rule from the Basque course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
"How is this said?" Basque asks like this: Nola esaten den euskaraz? — literally "how is said-being in Basque?". Inside is the same relative form in -n that closed wave 5, here in a pair with the question word nola.
Tense changes inside the form: present — nola … den, past — nola … zen: Azaldu nola egin zen — explain how it was done. And the short answer is ez dakit nola — "I do not know how": the clause works even without a main verb.
Table
| how (question) | the form | the example |
|---|---|---|
| present | nola … den | Nola esaten den euskaraz? |
| past | nola … zen | Azaldu nola egin zen |
| I do not know how | ez dakit nola … | Ez dakit nola konpontzen den |
By example
- Nola esaten den euskaraz?How is this said in Basque?
- Ez dakit nola konpontzen denI do not know how it is fixed
- Azaldu nola egin zenExplain how it was done
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
How: how does it work in Basque?
"How is this said?" Basque asks like this: Nola esaten den euskaraz? — literally "how is said-being in Basque?". Inside is the same relative form in -n that closed wave 5, here in a pair with the question word nola.
What does it look like in an example sentence Basque?
“Nola esaten den euskaraz?” — How is this said in Basque?. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.