bitartean
“bitartean” — while in Basque. Phrase, level B1, topic — time, days and hours. Literally 'in the interval': bitarte — 'interval' + -n. Two actions share one time here: duzun bitartean — while you do it. In a live sentence: “Zuk telebista ikusten duzun bitartean, ni sukaldatuko dut” — While you watch TV, I'll cook. You can hear how it sounds right here. One of 149 words in the set “time, days and hours” in the Basque course.
In short
| Written in Basque | bitartean |
| Translation | while |
| Part of speech | phrase |
| Level | B1 |
- bitarteanwhile
Why it looks that way
Literally 'in the interval': bitarte — 'interval' + -n. Two actions share one time here: duzun bitartean — while you do it
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.
- Zuk telebista ikusten duzun bitartean, ni sukaldatuko dutWhile you watch TV, I'll cook
Nearby words: time, days and hours
Today, tomorrow, in the morning, at six. You cannot arrange to meet without these — let alone understand the answer.
- goizamorningGoiz is 'early' and 'morning'; goiza wears the article. Goiz argitu — daybreak, literally 'the morning lightens': a phrase from a song
- egundayA familiar word: egun on — good morning — comes from it. Egunero — every day, literally 'day-ly'
- gaurtodayGaur gauean — tonight, literally 'today in the night': the word is glued from gau — 'night'
- bihartomorrowFrom bi — 'two' and egun — 'day': tomorrow is the 'second day'. The day before yesterday, herenegun, counts the other way
- atzoyesterdayAtzo — yesterday, gaur — today, bihar — tomorrow: the trio that opens any schedule
- arratsaldeaeveningStretches from lunch to dark — the second half of the day and early evening in one. After dark, gaua begins
- gauanightGabon — 'good night' — comes from it: gau + on. Dinner at ten already counts as gauetan
- orduahourBoth the hour as a measure and the time on the clock: Zer ordu da? — literally 'what hour is it?' — through izan, not egon
- denboratimeTime in Basque is what you have: denbora dut — 'I have time', literally 'time I have'. People ask denbora duzu? — 'do you have time?' more often than denbora al dago?
- lehenikfirst of allFrom lehen — 'first' + -ik: 'firstly-ish'. It opens the list: Lehenik… bigarrenik… — and the listener is already building the plan
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “time, days and hours”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “while” in Basque?
Literally 'in the interval': bitarte — 'interval' + -n. Two actions share one time here: duzun bitartean — while you do it
- How do you say “night” in Basque?
Gabon — 'good night' — comes from it: gau + on. Dinner at ten already counts as gauetan
- How do you say “today” in Basque?
Gaur gauean — tonight, literally 'today in the night': the word is glued from gau — 'night'
- How do you say “first of all” in Basque?
From lehen — 'first' + -ik: 'firstly-ish'. It opens the list: Lehenik… bigarrenik… — and the listener is already building the plan
- How do you say “evening” in Basque?
Stretches from lunch to dark — the second half of the day and early evening in one. After dark, gaua begins
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 “while” in Basque?
«bitartean». In a live sentence: “Zuk telebista ikusten duzun bitartean, ni sukaldatuko dut” — While you watch TV, I'll cook. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Phrase, level B1, from the set “time, days and hours”.
Why does this word look the way it does?
Literally 'in the interval': bitarte — 'interval' + -n. Two actions share one time here: duzun bitartean — while you do it. 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.