zero
“zero” — zero in Basque. Numeral, level A1, topic — numbers and counting. A voiced z of its own — unlike the hard z. Zero gradutan — at zero degrees. In a live sentence: “Zero gradutan ura izozten da” — At zero degrees water freezes. One of 57 words in the set “numbers and counting” in the Basque course.
In short
| Written in Basque | zero |
| Translation | zero |
| Part of speech | numeral |
| Level | A1 |
Why it looks that way
A voiced z of its own — unlike the hard z. Zero gradutan — at zero degrees
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.
- Zero gradutan ura izozten daAt zero degrees water freezes
Nearby words: numbers and counting
A price, the change, a house number, the time you agreed on, the floor. Numbers are the first thing you have to catch by ear — and the first thing people say fast.
- batoneGoes AFTER the noun: kafe bat — one coffee. The same word also means 'a certain': egun bat — one day, once
- bitwoAfter a number the article disappears from the noun: bi kafe — two coffees
- hiruthreeThe opening h is silent: 'EER-oo'. Writing it without the h is a spelling mistake — a Batua rule
- laufourLau izkinak — four corners. The country's four quarters are counted on this word too
- bostfiveEnds in a consonant: 'bost'. Friday is ostirala — you won't hear the numeral inside it
- seisixSixteen is hamasei, literally 'ten-six': the tens come first
- zazpisevenBoth s-sounds here are the hard kind — closer to 'SAS-pi': that letter z at work. Seven is Basque's symbolic number: seven provinces
- zortzieightEighteen is hemezortzi — 'ten-and-eight', the same fusion
- bederatzinineNineteen is hemeretzi: again 'ten-nine'
- hamartenAll tens are counted from hamar: hirurogei — sixty, literally 'three twenties'. Basque counts by twenties, the way French does
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “numbers and counting”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “zero” in Basque?
A voiced z of its own — unlike the hard z. Zero gradutan — at zero degrees
- How do you say “seven” in Basque?
Both s-sounds here are the hard kind — closer to 'SAS-pi': that letter z at work. Seven is Basque's symbolic number: seven provinces
- How do you say “three” in Basque?
The opening h is silent: 'EER-oo'. Writing it without the h is a spelling mistake — a Batua rule
- How do you say “ten” in Basque?
All tens are counted from hamar: hirurogei — sixty, literally 'three twenties'. Basque counts by twenties, the way French does
- How do you say “six” in Basque?
Sixteen is hamasei, literally 'ten-six': the tens come first
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 “zero” in Basque?
«zero». In a live sentence: “Zero gradutan ura izozten da” — At zero degrees water freezes. Numeral, level A1, from the set “numbers and counting”.
Why does this word look the way it does?
A voiced z of its own — unlike the hard z. Zero gradutan — at zero degrees. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.