isilean entzun
“isilean entzun” — to eavesdrop in Basque. Verb, level B1, topic — people and family. Literally 'to hear in silence': isil is quiet + -ean. To eavesdrop — behind the door, not breathing. In a live sentence: “Ez zuten jakin isilean entzun ziela zurrumurru guztiak.” — They did not know he had eavesdropped on all the rumors. One of 143 words in the set “people and family” in the Basque course.
In short
| Written in Basque | isilean entzun |
| Translation | to eavesdrop |
| Part of speech | verb |
| Level | B1 |
Why it looks that way
Literally 'to hear in silence': isil is quiet + -ean. To eavesdrop — behind the door, not breathing
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 zuten jakin isilean entzun ziela zurrumurru guztiak.They did not know he had eavesdropped on all the rumors.
Nearby words: people and family
Mum, friend, child, neighbour. The first thing people ask you about, and the first thing you tell about yourself.
- lagunafriendFrom lagun — 'friend' and 'helper' alike: laguntza, 'help', comes from it. A casual acquaintance is ezagun
- familiafamilyA false friend of 'family name': this is the family. The surname is abizena — literally 'added to the name'
- amamomA neutral word. The affectionate one is amatxo. Grandma is amona: the same ama at the front
- aitadadThe affectionate one is aitatxo. Grandpa is aitona: the same aita at the front, symmetric with ama/amona
- haurrachildHaur + a, and the r doubles at the seam: haurra. Children are haurrak; the playroom is haurrentzako — literally 'for children'
- pertsonapersonThe counting unit for people: bi pertsona — two people, not bi gizon. A neutral word instead of 'man and woman'
- gizonamanFrom gizon — 'person' and 'man' at once: Gizon-zuri is what the first humans are called in the myth. Plural: gizonak
- emakumeawomanFrom eme — 'female' plus a native tail. A long, honest word of its own
- gazteayoung manGazte — 'young' in general: gaztea is a young man, neska gaztea a young woman. About wine too: ardo gaztea
- neskayoung womanYou know neska from the basics — 'girl': the same word is a teenage girl. A boy is mutila
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “people and family”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “to eavesdrop” in Basque?
Literally 'to hear in silence': isil is quiet + -ean. To eavesdrop — behind the door, not breathing
- How do you say “man” in Basque?
From gizon — 'person' and 'man' at once: Gizon-zuri is what the first humans are called in the myth. Plural: gizonak
- How do you say “mom” in Basque?
A neutral word. The affectionate one is amatxo. Grandma is amona: the same ama at the front
- How do you say “young woman” in Basque?
You know neska from the basics — 'girl': the same word is a teenage girl. A boy is mutila
- How do you say “person” in Basque?
The counting unit for people: bi pertsona — two people, not bi gizon. A neutral word instead of 'man and woman'
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 “to eavesdrop” in Basque?
«isilean entzun». In a live sentence: “Ez zuten jakin isilean entzun ziela zurrumurru guztiak.” — They did not know he had eavesdropped on all the rumors. Verb, level B1, from the set “people and family”.
Why does this word look the way it does?
Literally 'to hear in silence': isil is quiet + -ean. To eavesdrop — behind the door, not breathing. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.