zenbat balio du?
“zenbat balio du?” — how much is it? in Basque. Phrase, level A0, topic — shopping and money. Literally 'how much does it value?'. For several things the verb agrees with the goods: zenbat balio dute? In a live sentence: “Zenbat balio du kafeak?” — How much is the coffee? One of 94 words in the set “shopping and money” in the Basque course.
In short
| Written in Basque | zenbat balio du? |
| Translation | how much is it? |
| Part of speech | phrase |
| Level | A0 |
Why it looks that way
Literally 'how much does it value?'. For several things the verb agrees with the goods: zenbat balio dute?
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.
- Zenbat balio du kafeak?How much is the coffee?
Nearby words: shopping and money
How much it costs, whether there is a smaller one, whether cards are accepted. A shop forgives mistakes: miss a word and they will show you the thing with their hands anyway.
- euroaeuroEuro + the article. After a number the article vanishes: bi euro — two euros, not euroak
- dendashopA native word, not the Spanish tienda. Denda txiki — a little shop: the country is fond of those
- azokamarketA covered market, a native word. Merkatua is from Spanish: both are in use, azoka is the people's one
- mahai-langamarket counterLiterally 'table-board': mahaia 'table' + langa 'plank'. The market counter is built that way in the very language
- saltzaileasellerFrom saldu — 'to sell': saltzaile is 'the selling one'. A woman seller is also saltzailea: Basque doesn't mark gender
- erosleabuyerFrom erosi — 'to buy': erosle is 'the buying one'. Buyers together are erosleak
- pisuascaleFrom pisatu — 'to weigh'. The same word means 'pressure': atmosfera-pisua — atmospheric pressure
- kiloakilogramThe short form of kilogramo. Ordered without the article: kilo bat laranja — a kilogram of oranges
- erdiahalfErdi kilo — half a kilo; the same word means 'middle': heren erdia — the middle of the way
- freskoafreshWith the article: fresko+a. Arrain freskoa — fresh fish — is shouted across the market every morning
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “shopping and money”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “how much is it?” in Basque?
Literally 'how much does it value?'. For several things the verb agrees with the goods: zenbat balio dute?
- How do you say “scale” in Basque?
From pisatu — 'to weigh'. The same word means 'pressure': atmosfera-pisua — atmospheric pressure
- How do you say “market” in Basque?
A covered market, a native word. Merkatua is from Spanish: both are in use, azoka is the people's one
- How do you say “fresh” in Basque?
With the article: fresko+a. Arrain freskoa — fresh fish — is shouted across the market every morning
- How do you say “buyer” in Basque?
From erosi — 'to buy': erosle is 'the buying one'. Buyers together are erosleak
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 “how much is it?” in Basque?
«zenbat balio du?» In a live sentence: “Zenbat balio du kafeak?” — How much is the coffee? Phrase, level A0, from the set “shopping and money”.
Why does this word look the way it does?
Literally 'how much does it value?'. For several things the verb agrees with the goods: zenbat balio dute? A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.