metroa
“metroa” — metro in Basque. Noun, level A1, topic — transport. Bilbao's metro is Metro Bilbao: you recognize the glass entrances from afar. The word is the same as the measure of length. In a live sentence: “Puntako orduan metroa taxiak baino azkarragoa da” — At rush hour the metro is faster than a taxi. One of 14 words in the set “transport” in the Basque course.
In short
| Written in Basque | metroa |
| Translation | metro |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | A1 |
Why it looks that way
Bilbao's metro is Metro Bilbao: you recognize the glass entrances from afar. The word is the same as the measure of length
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.
- Puntako orduan metroa taxiak baino azkarragoa daAt rush hour the metro is faster than a taxi
Nearby words: transport
Bus, metro, taxi, stop, station. These are words you need to recognize in writing — off a departure board and off a sign.
- geltokiastationGeltoki + a, and the two i's fuse into one. Both the metro station and the train station: one word for both
- autobusabusThe long-distance bus has a different name — autokarra: city and intercity are kept apart, as elsewhere
- taxiataxiTaxis are taken at the rank — taxi geltokia — not hailed by waving. Geltokia here isn't the station but the 'stand': the same word as 'stop'
- autobus-gidariabus driverLiterally 'the bus's driver': gidaria — 'driver'. The same gidari serves the chauffeur and the train driver
- azken geltokialast stopLiterally 'the last station': azken — 'last' + geltokia — 'station'. The terminus here is simply 'the most that one'
- ibilbide-zenbakiaroute numberLiterally 'the route's number': ibilbidea — 'route' + zenbakia — 'number'. Looked at before entering, not after
- puntako orduarush hourLiterally 'the peak's hour': puntako — from punta — 'the point, the top'. The city stands on the peak of hurry
- autobus-ordutegiabus timetableLiterally 'the buses' timetable': ordutegia. It hangs at the stop, glued like the city's note to itself
- txartela ordaindupay the fareLiterally 'to pay the ticket': ordaindu — 'to pay'. The fare is paid through the ticket: buy it — and the ride is paid
- eserlekua hartutake a seatLiterally 'to take the seat': eserlekua — from eseri — 'to sit' + hartu — 'to take'. A seat here isn't 'occupied', it's taken into the hands
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “transport”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “metro” in Basque?
Bilbao's metro is Metro Bilbao: you recognize the glass entrances from afar. The word is the same as the measure of length
- How do you say “rush hour” in Basque?
Literally 'the peak's hour': puntako — from punta — 'the point, the top'. The city stands on the peak of hurry
- How do you say “taxi” in Basque?
Taxis are taken at the rank — taxi geltokia — not hailed by waving. Geltokia here isn't the station but the 'stand': the same word as 'stop'
- How do you say “take a seat” in Basque?
Literally 'to take the seat': eserlekua — from eseri — 'to sit' + hartu — 'to take'. A seat here isn't 'occupied', it's taken into the hands
- How do you say “route number” in Basque?
Literally 'the route's number': ibilbidea — 'route' + zenbakia — 'number'. Looked at before entering, not after
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 “metro” in Basque?
«metroa». In a live sentence: “Puntako orduan metroa taxiak baino azkarragoa da” — At rush hour the metro is faster than a taxi. Noun, level A1, from the set “transport”.
Why does this word look the way it does?
Bilbao's metro is Metro Bilbao: you recognize the glass entrances from afar. The word is the same as the measure of length. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.