LingoflyTaking measurements at the shop in Basque
Measuring and buying: choosing a table to the exact size in Basque. 6 phrases that the conversation is made of: «Egun on. Mahai bat erosi nahi dut: bi metro luze izan behar du, gutxi gorabehera.» — Good afternoon. I want to buy a table: it should be two meters long, roughly. Every line can be played right on the page.
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: measuring and buying: choosing a table to the exact size. First the whole conversation, then each line on its own, with a translation.
- Hogeita hamar kilo pisatzen du, baina lagunduko dizut garraiatzen. Guztira berrehun eta berrogei euro izango dira.It weighs thirty kilograms, but I will help you carry it. In all it will be two hundred forty euros.
Lines one by one
| Basque | Translation |
|---|---|
| Egun on. Mahai bat erosi nahi dut: bi metro luze izan behar du, gutxi gorabehera. | Good afternoon. I want to buy a table: it should be two meters long, roughly. |
| Hemen ditugu: hau bi metro eta hamar zentimetro luze da. Zehazki neurtu dezaket zuretzat? | Here they are: this one is two meters ten centimeters. Shall I measure it exactly for you? |
| Bai, mesedez. Sukaldeko lekua neurtu dut jada, baina baieztatu nahi dut. | Yes, please. I have already measured the place in the kitchen, but I want to confirm. |
| Zure lekua bi metro eta lau zentimetrokoa bada, mahai hau ona da: laurogei zentimetro zabalera ere badu. | If your place is two meters four centimeters, this table fits: it is eighty wide too. |
| Zenbat pisatzen du? Bakarrik ekarri behar dut autotik sukaldera. | How much does it weigh? I will have to carry it from the car to the kitchen myself. |
| Hogeita hamar kilo pisatzen du, baina lagunduko dizut garraiatzen. Guztira berrehun eta berrogei euro izango dira. | It weighs thirty kilograms, but I will help you carry it. In all it will be two hundred forty euros. |
How to prepare for a conversation like this
Memorizing the lines is not enough: the other person will say their own thing, not what is written. What helps more is catching the key words by ear and keeping three rescue phrases ready: “I don't understand”, “repeat, please”, “slower”.
And one more thing phrasebooks do not mention: awkwardness gets in the way more than not knowing the words.
- Fear of making mistakes gets in the way of learning a language, and noticeably so. The link turns up study after study, and together those studies cover almost twenty thousand people.checked many timesTeimouri, Goetze & Plonsky, 2019, Studies in Second Language Acquisition 41(2) · 19,933 participants from 23 countries; correlation with results r = −0.36.
- That fear can be dealt with — the methods have been tested and they work.checked many timesXiong et al., 2024, Journal of Language and Social Psychology · 37 studies, anxiety reduced by −0.61. Of the seven conditions examined, only age turned out to matter.
Frequently asked
How do you start a conversation in Basque in this situation?
“Egun on. Mahai bat erosi nahi dut: bi metro luze izan behar du, gutxi gorabehera.” — Good afternoon. I want to buy a table: it should be two meters long, roughly. The first line in such a conversation is almost always the same, and that is the one worth learning: the other person will carry it from there.
What if you did not understand the reply?
Say “I don't understand” and “repeat, please” — both are in the rescue set. Admitting your language is still shaky almost always makes the other person more patient.
Should you memorize the dialogue?
No. It is more useful to catch the key words by ear: the other person will say their own thing, and a memorized line will not always fit their reply.