abizena
“abizena” — surname in Basque. Noun, level A1, topic — basic words. Literally 'added-to-name': a- + izena. Basques carry two surnames — the father's and the mother's, and both go in the documents. In a live sentence: “Zein da zure abizena?” — What is your surname? One of 82 words in the set “basic words” in the Basque course.
In short
| Written in Basque | abizena |
| Translation | surname |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | A1 |
Why it looks that way
Literally 'added-to-name': a- + izena. Basques carry two surnames — the father's and the mother's, and both go in the documents
A word with a story stays in memory longer than one learned as a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
In a live sentence
A single word almost never appears alone in conversation. A sentence shows where it fits and what stands next to it.
- Zein da zure abizena?What is your surname?
Nearby words: basic words
Yes, no, good, bad, very. The small change of a language — and no sentence assembles without it.
- baiyesA calm yes with no booster. Basque dislikes a second yes in a row: answer 'bai, bai' and it lands like disbelief
- eznoOne word for 'no' and for verb negation alike: ez dut ulertzen — 'I don't understand'
- ondowellAn adverb: it answers 'how?'. The adjective 'good' is on, and with the article, ona
- gaizkibadlyThe partner of ondo. A bad THING takes txar: eguraldi txarra — the weather is foul
- oso ondovery wellOso is 'very' and stands before the word it boosts: oso goxoa — very tasty
- edoorA short connector: tea edo kafea — tea or coffee. Questions charged with doubt prefer ala; edo is a calm either/or
- eretoo, alsoStands right after the word it doubles: ni ere — me too, hura ere — him too. It never opens the sentence
- soilikonlyFrom soil — 'bare, plain': only here means 'one, nothing else'. It goes before the word it restricts
- dagoenekoalreadyLiterally 'since it already is': from egon 'be' + -keen. Already here = sooner than expected. Partner: oraindik — 'still'
- oraindikstillFrom orain 'now' + -dik: still here means 'up to this very moment'. With a negation it means 'not yet': oraindik ez
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “basic words”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “surname” in Basque?
Literally 'added-to-name': a- + izena. Basques carry two surnames — the father's and the mother's, and both go in the documents
- How do you say “too, also” in Basque?
Stands right after the word it doubles: ni ere — me too, hura ere — him too. It never opens the sentence
- How do you say “well” in Basque?
An adverb: it answers 'how?'. The adjective 'good' is on, and with the article, ona
- How do you say “still” in Basque?
From orain 'now' + -dik: still here means 'up to this very moment'. With a negation it means 'not yet': oraindik ez
- How do you say “or” in Basque?
A short connector: tea edo kafea — tea or coffee. Questions charged with doubt prefer ala; edo is a calm either/or
How not to forget this word
Reading a word and remembering it are different jobs. A day later, little survives of a single reading — and that is not bad memory, that is how memory works.
- This has been tested on foreign words too. The difference shows up most when you test yourself a few days later rather than straight away.checked many timesKim & Webb, 2022, Language Learning 72(2) · 48 experiments, 3,411 participants, 98 comparisons.
- Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
- An answer you worked out yourself sticks better than one handed to you.checked many timesBertsch et al., 2007, Memory & Cognition 35(2) · 86 studies, 445 comparisons, d = 0.40.
Frequently asked
How do you say “surname” in Basque?
«abizena». In a live sentence: “Zein da zure abizena?” — What is your surname? Noun, level A1, from the set “basic words”.
Why does this word look the way it does?
Literally 'added-to-name': a- + izena. Basques carry two surnames — the father's and the mother's, and both go in the documents. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.