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Numbers and counting in Basque

57 words in Basque on the topic “numbers and counting”: bat — one, bi — two, hiru — three, lau — four. 57 words can be played from recordings.

Updated September 1, 2026 · Lingofly

57 words on the topic

  • bat
    one
    Goes AFTER the noun: kafe bat — one coffee. The same word also means 'a certain': egun bat — one day, once
  • bi
    two
    After a number the article disappears from the noun: bi kafe — two coffees
  • hiru
    three
    The opening h is silent: 'eer-oo'. Writing it without the h is a spelling mistake — a Batua rule
  • lau
    four
    Lau izkinak — four corners
  • bost
    five
    Ends in a consonant: 'bost'. Friday is ostirala — you won't hear the numeral inside it
  • sei
    six
    Sixteen is hamasei, literally 'ten-six': the tens come first
  • zazpi
    seven
    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
  • zortzi
    eight
    Eighteen is hemezortzi — 'ten-and-eight', the same fusion
  • bederatzi
    nine
    Nineteen is hemeretzi: again 'ten-nine'
  • hamar
    ten
    The teens are built on «hama-»: «hamabi», «hamasei». Higher up you count in twenties: «hirurogei» — sixty, literally «three twenties»
  • hamaika
    eleven
    The only teen not built on the pattern: after it come «hamabi», «hamahiru» with «hama-». «Hamaika» also means «loads»
  • hamabi
    twelve
    'Ten-two'. Don't mix it up with hamabost ('fifteen') next door: they start the same, and the second half — bi or bost — tells them apart
  • hamahiru
    thirteen
    'Ten-three'. The stress is weak, the syllables are said evenly: ha-ma-hi-ru
  • hamalau
    fourteen
    'Ten-four': the lau inside is visible at once
  • hamabost
    fifteen
    'Ten-five': the final bost lands dull, '-ost'
  • hamasei
    sixteen
    'Ten-six'. Don't let hamasei and sei blur in fast speech — the first half is what tells them apart
  • hamazazpi
    seventeen
    'Ten-seven': zazpi with its hard s in the middle of the word
  • hemezortzi
    eighteen
    'Ten-and-eight', with -me- in the middle: the only bump in the whole row
  • hemeretzi
    nineteen
    'Ten-nine'. With this number, the teenage years are over
  • hogei
    twenty
    The start of a base-twenty system: thirty is hogeita hamar, literally 'twenty and ten'. Basque counts by twenties, the way French does
  • hogeita hamar
    thirty
    Literally 'twenty-and-ten': past twenty, tens are counted from the nearest twenty
  • berrogei
    forty
    Literally «two twenties»: bi + hogei. Twenties are counted one by one: «hirurogei» is three twenties
  • berrogeita hamar
    fifty
    'Second twenty and ten'. The same logic as thirty
  • hirurogei
    sixty
    Literally «three twenties»: hiru, three, plus hogei. Sixty here is three times twenty
  • hirurogeita hamar
    seventy
    'Third twenty and ten'. The longest everyday numeral
  • laurogei
    eighty
    'Fourth twenty': lau — four. Four twenties make eighty, exactly as in French
  • laurogeita hamar
    ninety
    'Fourth twenty and ten'. After this come the hundreds, and life gets simpler
  • ehun
    hundred
    One syllable. Two hundred is not bi ehun but a special form, berrehun — just like berrogei, 'forty', 'twice twenty'
  • mila
    thousand
    Unchanging: mila euro, bi mila euro. Milaka is the collective 'thousands', as in 'thousands of people'
  • milioi bat
    million
    Takes bat — 'one': Basque counting wants 'one million', not a bare million. On the news: milioi erdi — half a million
  • zero
    zero
    Basque z is a plain voiceless s — the language has no buzzing z at all, so it sounds 'sero'. Zero gradutan — at zero degrees
  • lehen
    first
    The same word as 'earlier, before': lehenengo is the full form. Lehen solairua — the first floor
  • bigarren
    second
    From bi — 'two'. Bigarren eskua — second-hand: a phrase straight from the classifieds
  • hirugarren
    third
    From hiru — 'three'. Hirugarren adina — 'the third age': a gentle way to say 'the elderly'
  • azken
    last
    Azken autobusa — the last bus; better not miss it. The same word means 'utmost'
  • zenbat?
    how much
    A question word: Zenbat balio du? — how much is it? Here it stands alone, without the price verb
  • bikote bat
    a couple
    From bi — 'two'. Both 'a pair of socks' and a couple of people: bikote gazte bat — a young couple
  • ale bat
    item
    The counting unit for fruit and objects: bost ale — five items. A native word, not the Spanish one
  • ehunekoa
    percent
    Literally 'of the hundred': ehun + -eko. Ehuneko hamar — ten percent
  • bakoitza
    each
    Always with the article, always singular: egun bakoitzean — every day, literally 'in each day'
  • berrehun
    two hundred
    'Two-hundred', but 'two' takes its old form berr-, as in berrogei — forty: berr + ehun. After a number the article drops: berrehun euro — two hundred euros, not euroak
  • hirurehun
    three hundred
    Hiru plus ehun joined with -r-: hirurehun. Four hundred is built the same way: laurehun
  • laurehun
    four hundred
    Lau + ehun with a linking -r-: laurehun. Hirurehun — 'three hundred' — is built the same way. A relative: laugarren — 'fourth'
  • bostehun
    five hundred
    Bost + ehun, straight on. Compare bostetan — 'at five o'clock': the number root is the same
  • seiehun
    six hundred
    Sei + ehun. Don't confuse it with seigarren — 'sixth': that one takes the linker -garren, the hundred stands bare
  • zazpiehun
    seven hundred
    Zazpi + ehun. Every hundred after the first is built identically — learn the root, assemble the hundred
  • zortziehun
    eight hundred
    Zortzi + ehun. The z here is hard, as in zazpi: zor-tzi-e-hun
  • bederatziehun
    nine hundred
    Bederatzi + ehun. The longest of the hundreds — five syllables — but it assembles by the same ruler
  • laugarren
    fourth
    Lau + -garren: the ordinal is the numeral with a tail. Laugarren solairuan — on the fourth floor
  • bosgarren
    fifth
    Bost loses its -t: bosgarren, not bostgarren. In bostehun — 'five hundred' — the t stays put
  • seigarren
    sixth
    Sei + garren, no surprises. Seigarren mailan — in the sixth grade
  • zazpigarren
    seventh
    Zazpi + garren. The Basque week is seven days, and the seventh, igandea, is the day off
  • zortzigarren
    eighth
    Zortzi + garren. Zortzigarren orrian — on the eighth page: a page is orrialdea
  • bederatzigarren
    ninth
    Bederatzi + garren. The lift doesn't always reach it — the ninth floor is sometimes walked
  • hamargarren
    tenth
    Hamar + garren. Tenth here is anniversary counting: the tenth time, the tenth year
  • ehungarren
    hundredth
    Ehun + garren: the hundredth comes after ninety-nine. Customer number one hundred gets a gift
  • zenbakia
    number
    The same word as «digit» — the sense differs: here a number is a quantity, not a sign. Related to «zenbat» — how many

Download the word set (CSV) · Open the printable sheet

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How it sounds in a sentence

A word list is a blank. Conversation is made of sentences, and these are the ones the words fit into most often.

What is worth knowing about these words

bat — one. Goes AFTER the noun: kafe bat — one coffee. The same word also means 'a certain': egun bat — one day, once.

bi — two. After a number the article disappears from the noun: bi kafe — two coffees.

hiru — three. The opening h is silent: 'eer-oo'. Writing it without the h is a spelling mistake — a Batua rule.

lau — four. Lau izkinak — four corners.

Test yourself

First by ear — the way you will meet the word in conversation. Click the speaker and pick the translation.

  1. What is this word?

  2. What is this word?

  3. What is this word?

  4. What is this word?

  5. What is this word?

Now the other way around: recall the spelling from the meaning. That is harder, and therefore more useful.

  1. How do you say “one” in Basque?

  2. How do you say “eight” in Basque?

  3. How do you say “fifteen” in Basque?

  4. How do you say “forty” in Basque?

  5. How do you say “thousand” in Basque?

How to learn the set instead of just reading it

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.

A list is read in a minute and forgotten in a day. What works: hide the translation, try to recall, get it wrong — and come back to the same words tomorrow.

Frequently asked

How do you say “one” in Basque?

«bat». Goes AFTER the noun: kafe bat — one coffee. The same word also means 'a certain': egun bat — one day, once. It is one of 57 words in the set “numbers and counting” — the rest are in the table above.

How many numbers do you need to start?

The whole set on this page is 57 words, but there is no need to start with all of it: the words you will need in the next few days are enough. Take them a few at a time — five to seven new ones per session.

Is there audio?

Yes, 57 words on this page can be played — click the speaker next to the word. The sound works on any phone, and nothing needs to be installed.

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