besterik ez
“besterik ez” — nothing but in Basque. Conjunction, level A1, topic — basic words. Literally 'there is no other': nothing but here means nothing else is wanted. Lo egitea besterik ez — nothing but sleep. In a live sentence: “Lo egitea besterik ez dut nahi.” — All I want is to sleep. You can hear how it sounds right here. One of 82 words in the set “basic words” in the Basque course.
In short
| Written in Basque | besterik ez |
| Translation | nothing but |
| Part of speech | conjunction |
| Level | A1 |
- besterik eznothing but
Why it looks that way
Literally 'there is no other': nothing but here means nothing else is wanted. Lo egitea besterik ez — nothing but sleep
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.
- Lo egitea besterik ez dut nahi.All I want is to sleep.
Nearby words: basic words
Yes, no, good, bad, very. The small change of a language — and no sentence assembles without it.
- baiyesA calm yes with no booster. Basque dislikes a second yes in a row: answer 'bai, bai' and it lands like disbelief
- eznoOne word for 'no' and for verb negation alike: ez dut ulertzen — 'I don't understand'
- ondowellAn adverb: it answers 'how?'. The adjective 'good' is on, and with the article, ona
- gaizkibadlyThe partner of ondo. A bad THING takes txar: eguraldi txarra — the weather is foul
- oso ondovery wellOso is 'very' and stands before the word it boosts: oso goxoa — very tasty
- edoorA short connector: tea edo kafea — tea or coffee. Questions charged with doubt prefer ala; edo is a calm either/or
- eretoo, alsoStands right after the word it doubles: ni ere — me too, hura ere — him too. It never opens the sentence
- soilikonlyFrom soil — 'bare, plain': only here means 'one, nothing else'. It goes before the word it restricts
- dagoenekoalreadyLiterally 'since it already is': from egon 'be' + -keen. Already here = sooner than expected. Partner: oraindik — 'still'
- oraindikstillFrom orain 'now' + -dik: still here means 'up to this very moment'. With a negation it means 'not yet': oraindik ez
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “basic words”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “nothing but” in Basque?
Literally 'there is no other': nothing but here means nothing else is wanted. Lo egitea besterik ez — nothing but sleep
- How do you say “too, also” in Basque?
Stands right after the word it doubles: ni ere — me too, hura ere — him too. It never opens the sentence
- How do you say “well” in Basque?
An adverb: it answers 'how?'. The adjective 'good' is on, and with the article, ona
- How do you say “still” in Basque?
From orain 'now' + -dik: still here means 'up to this very moment'. With a negation it means 'not yet': oraindik ez
- How do you say “or” in Basque?
A short connector: tea edo kafea — tea or coffee. Questions charged with doubt prefer ala; edo is a calm either/or
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 “nothing but” in Basque?
«besterik ez». In a live sentence: “Lo egitea besterik ez dut nahi.” — All I want is to sleep. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Conjunction, level A1, from the set “basic words”.
Why does this word look the way it does?
Literally 'there is no other': nothing but here means nothing else is wanted. Lo egitea besterik ez — nothing but sleep. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
Can I hear how this sounds?
Yes, right on this page: click the word and it will play. The sound works on any phone, and nothing needs to be installed.