Zenbat pisu? in Basque
A customer asks to weigh cheese and ham at a market stall in Basque. 6 phrases that the conversation is made of: «Barkatu, zenbat pisu behar duzu zuk? Zuk aukeratu, nik presarik ez dut.» — Excuse me, what weight do you need? Choose yourself, I am not in a hurry. The conversation is predictable: few lines, and almost all of them repeat from one exchange to the next.
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: a customer asks to weigh cheese and ham at a market stall. The conversation is short and predictable — which is exactly what makes it good for a first try: few lines, and almost all of them repeat from one exchange to the next.
- Barkatu, zenbat pisu behar duzu zuk? Zuk aukeratu, nik presarik ez dut.Excuse me, what weight do you need? Choose yourself, I am not in a hurry.
- Erdi kilo gazta, mesedez, eta urdaiazpiko xerra bat zaporea probatzeko.Half a kilo of cheese, please, and a slice of ham to try the taste.
- Ongi. Gorde litro erdi esnea ere; gaur merkeago dago, deskontua dagoelako.Good. Set aside half a liter of milk too; today it is cheaper, because of the discount.
- Al daukazue gatz pitxika bat ere? Fosforoak etxean ahaztu ditut, batere ez dut.And do you have a pinch of salt? I forgot the matches at home, not one is left.
- Hona hemezortzi euro guztira. Txartelaz ala efektiboan ordaintzen duzu?Here, eighteen euros in all. Will you pay by card or in cash?
- Kambiorik ez, eskerrik asko. Bihar berriz etorriko naiz, erosketen zerrendarekin.No change needed, thanks. Tomorrow I will come again, with a shopping list.
Lines one by one
| Basque | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Barkatu, zenbat pisu behar duzu zuk? Zuk aukeratu, nik presarik ez dut. | — | Excuse me, what weight do you need? Choose yourself, I am not in a hurry. |
| Erdi kilo gazta, mesedez, eta urdaiazpiko xerra bat zaporea probatzeko. | — | Half a kilo of cheese, please, and a slice of ham to try the taste. |
| Ongi. Gorde litro erdi esnea ere; gaur merkeago dago, deskontua dagoelako. | — | Good. Set aside half a liter of milk too; today it is cheaper, because of the discount. |
| Al daukazue gatz pitxika bat ere? Fosforoak etxean ahaztu ditut, batere ez dut. | — | And do you have a pinch of salt? I forgot the matches at home, not one is left. |
| Hona hemezortzi euro guztira. Txartelaz ala efektiboan ordaintzen duzu? | — | Here, eighteen euros in all. Will you pay by card or in cash? |
| Kambiorik ez, eskerrik asko. Bihar berriz etorriko naiz, erosketen zerrendarekin. | — | No change needed, thanks. Tomorrow I will come again, with a shopping list. |
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 it gets in the way badly. It is one of the most reliably measured findings in the entire field.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?
“Barkatu, zenbat pisu behar duzu zuk? Zuk aukeratu, nik presarik ez dut.” — Excuse me, what weight do you need? Choose yourself, I am not in a hurry.. 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.