ez nuke nahi

In short

Why it looks that way

Literally 'not I-would-have the wish': nuke — the potential 'I would have'. The refusal in the conditional: not 'I don't want' but 'I wouldn't want'

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.

• Ez nuke nahi inor mindu nere erabakiarekin

  I wouldn't want to hurt anyone with my decision

Nearby words: polite words

“Thank you”, “please” and “sorry” carry you while the rest of the words are still missing: with them even a gesture reads as a request rather than a demand.

• eskerrik asko

  thank you

  Literally 'many thanks': esker is gratitude. To turn it up, mila esker — a thousand thanks
• mesedez

  please (when asking)

  Polite request that lands at the END of the phrase: kafe bat, mesedez. The reply 'don't mention it' is ez dago zergatik
• ez dago zergatik

  don't mention it

  Literally 'there is no reason' — the standard answer to eskerrik asko. Both dago and ez are from this course; the phrase assembles itself
• barkatu

  sorry

  For small stuff: a shove, an interruption. For real regret people say sentitzen dut — literally 'I feel it'
• ahal baduzu

  if it's not too much trouble

  Literally 'if you can': ahal — 'can' + the condition baduzu. The request softener: not 'do it' but 'if you can' — the way out is always left open
• Ba al dezakezu…?

  could you

  Literally 'whether can you…?': ba al — the double question particle + dezakezu — 'you can'. The polite-request formula: a question instead of an order
• oso esker onez egongo naiz

  I'd be very grateful

  Literally 'with very good gratitude I will be': esker ona — 'gratitude', literally 'good memory' + the instrumental -z. Gratitude here is a state one promises to abide in
• Ez, eskerrik asko

  I'm afraid not

  Literally 'no, thank you': the polite refusal — the 'no' disarmed at once by thanks. A soft 'no' nobody quarrels with
• zoritxarrez

  unfortunately

  From zoritxarra — 'misfortune' + the instrumental -z: 'by-misfortune-ly'. Bad news is served with this cushion-word
• agian beste batean

  maybe another time

  Literally 'maybe in another time': agian — 'maybe' + beste batean — 'in another one'. The deferral is not a refusal but an open door

Test yourself

Five questions from the same set — “polite words”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.

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 times
  Kim & 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 times
  Adesope, 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 times
  Bertsch et al., 2007, Memory & Cognition 35(2) · 86 studies, 445 comparisons, d = 0.40.

Next

• Polite words11 words on the topic
• agian beste batean — maybe another timephrase
• pentsatuko dut — I'll think about itphrase
• lotsa egiten zait eskatzea — I feel awkward askingphrase
• mindu gabe — no offensephrase
• All Basque wordsIndex by topic