ahal izan
“ahal izan” — be able to in Basque. Verb, level A1, topic — verbs. The same pairing as 'manage to' — context splits them: here it's can in the present and in general. The workhorse form is -dezaket: egin dezaket — I can do it. In a live sentence: “Gaur ezin dut etorri.” — I can't come today. One of 53 words in the set “verbs” in the Basque course.
In short
| Written in Basque | ahal izan |
| Translation | be able to |
| Part of speech | verb |
| Level | A1 |
Why it looks that way
The same pairing as 'manage to' — context splits them: here it's can in the present and in general. The workhorse form is -dezaket: egin dezaket — I can do it
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.
- Gaur ezin dut etorri.I can't come today.
Nearby words: verbs
I want, I can, I am going, I know. Twenty verbs cover more everyday sentences than two hundred nouns.
- naizI amThe 'I am' of izan — being by essence: origin, profession, character. Errusiarra naiz, medikua naiz. For state and place there is the second verb, egon: ondo nago, etxean nago
- nahi dutI wantLiterally 'want-it-I-have': desire goes through the auxiliary verb. To soften it, nahi nuke — 'I would like'
- joangoThe most irregular verb in Basque: noa (I go), zoaz, doa, goaz — nothing of the root is left. It covers both walking and riding
- janeatFood is janari — same root. Having lunch is bazkaldu: lunch has a name of its own, bazkaria
- edandrinkDrinking, the literal sense. Zer edozer hartuko al dugu? — 'shall we have something?': the soft invitation goes through hartu — 'take'
- irakurrireadA reader is irakurle, a newspaper is egunkaria — literally 'dayly'. Reading on the metro is the national sport
- hitz eginspeakLiterally 'to make a word'. Basque builds whole verb classes this way: lan egin — work, lo egin — sleep, barka egin — forgive
- lan eginwork (verb)Literally 'to make work': a noun plus egin — and the verb is ready. Working on something: ...tan lan egin
- biziliveBizi naiz — I live. Bizitza is both 'life' and 'living': Bilbon bizi da — he lives in Bilbao, zaila da bizitzea — living is hard
- duthaveBasque has no verb 'to have': what you have is put before dut — 'I-it-have'. Age, hunger and cold go through it too: hogeita hamar urte ditut, gosea dut, hotza dut
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “verbs”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “be able to” in Basque?
The same pairing as 'manage to' — context splits them: here it's can in the present and in general. The workhorse form is -dezaket: egin dezaket — I can do it
- How do you say “speak” in Basque?
Literally 'to make a word'. Basque builds whole verb classes this way: lan egin — work, lo egin — sleep, barka egin — forgive
- How do you say “go” in Basque?
The most irregular verb in Basque: noa (I go), zoaz, doa, goaz — nothing of the root is left. It covers both walking and riding
- How do you say “have” in Basque?
Basque has no verb 'to have': what you have is put before dut — 'I-it-have'. Age, hunger and cold go through it too: hogeita hamar urte ditut, gosea dut, hotza dut
- How do you say “read” in Basque?
A reader is irakurle, a newspaper is egunkaria — literally 'dayly'. Reading on the metro is the national sport
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 “be able to” in Basque?
«ahal izan». In a live sentence: “Gaur ezin dut etorri.” — I can't come today. Verb, level A1, from the set “verbs”.
Why does this word look the way it does?
The same pairing as 'manage to' — context splits them: here it's can in the present and in general. The workhorse form is -dezaket: egin dezaket — I can do it. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.