Numbers and Counting in Basque

In Brief

Basque counting is partly based on twenty: hogei is “twenty,” hogeita bat is “twenty-one,” and berrogei is “forty,” literally two twenties. Most numbers go before a noun, as in hiru sagar (“three apples”), but bat usually follows it: sagar bat (“one apple” or “an apple”).

Overview

Numbers are among the most useful A1 building blocks. You need them to ask a price, give your age, understand an address, tell someone how many tickets you want, or read a timetable. The first twenty Basque numbers require some memorization, but larger numbers follow recognizable patterns.

What feels most different to an English-speaking learner is the vigesimal system (a counting system organized around twenty). English has faint traces of this idea in expressions such as “four score,” but normally counts in tens. Basque regularly groups tens as multiples of twenty: forty is berrogei, sixty is hirurogei, and eighty is laurogei. The intervening tens are formed by adding ten: fifty is berrogeita hamar, or “forty and ten.”

Number phrases also interact with Basque grammar. A noun after a number normally appears in the indefinite form (the form without the definite endings -a or -ak). This means that “three apples” is hiru sagar, not a word-for-word imitation of English plural marking. The basic counting pattern is simple; later sections show how these phrases take case endings and affect the verb.

How It Works

Zero to ten

Learn these as complete words. Basque spelling is regular, so saying each item aloud will also help you recognize it in speech.

Number	Basque
0	zero
1	bat
2	bi
3	hiru
4	lau
5	bost
6	sei
7	zazpi
8	zortzi
9	bederatzi
10	hamar

Zero is the ordinary numeral for 0. You may also meet huts with meanings such as “empty,” “nothing,” or a nil score, but it is not a simple replacement in every context.

Eleven to nineteen

Several forms transparently contain hamar (“ten”), although sound and spelling changes have produced fixed words. It is safest to learn them as a set.

Number	Basque
11	hamaika
12	hamabi
13	hamahiru
14	hamalau
15	hamabost
16	hamasei
17	hamazazpi
18	hemezortzi
19	hemeretzi
20	hogei

Notice especially hamaika, hemezortzi, and hemeretzi. Guessing these from the independent words can easily lead to invented forms.

From twenty to ninety-nine

After a multiple of twenty, Basque uses -ta to add another number. You can think of it as “and,” though it is attached to the preceding number in writing:

• hogeita bat = 20 + 1 = 21
• hogeita hamar = 20 + 10 = 30
• berrogeita bost = 40 + 5 = 45
• hirurogeita hamazazpi = 60 + 17 = 77

The multiples of twenty have their own compact forms:

Number	Basque	Structure
20	hogei	twenty
30	hogeita hamar	twenty and ten
40	berrogei	two twenties
50	berrogeita hamar	forty and ten
60	hirurogei	three twenties
70	hirurogeita hamar	sixty and ten
80	laurogei	four twenties
90	laurogeita hamar	eighty and ten

To build any number in these ranges, add 1–19 to the preceding multiple of twenty. Thus 31 is hogeita hamaika, 58 is berrogeita hemezortzi, and 99 is laurogeita hemeretzi. Do not import the English “tens + units” analysis: 70 is not built from a separate word meaning “seven tens.”

Hundreds and thousands

The most useful larger units are ehun (“one hundred”) and mila (“one thousand”). In ehun and mila, “one” is normally left unexpressed.

Number	Basque
100	ehun
101	ehun eta bat
125	ehun eta hogeita bost
200	berrehun
300	hirurehun
400	laurehun
1,000	mila
2,000	bi mila

With hundreds, eta is written as a separate word before the remainder: berrehun eta hamar (“210”). The forms of the hundreds are joined into one word, as in berrehun and hirurehun. For beginner communication, mastering numbers through 100 and recognizing mila will cover most immediate needs.

Numbers with nouns

With numbers greater than one, put the number before the noun:

Pattern	Basque	English
number + noun	bi etxe	two houses
number + noun	lau kafe	four coffees
number + noun	hamar euro	ten euros

The noun is in the indefinite form. Basque does not add the definite plural ending -ak merely because the quantity is plural. Compare:

• sagarrak — the apples
• hiru sagar — three apples

Bat behaves differently. When it counts or introduces one item, it normally follows the noun:

• sagar bat — one apple; an apple
• liburu bat — one book; a book
• etxe handi bat — one/a big house

This overlap explains why bat can function rather like the English indefinite article “a/an.” Context tells you whether “one” is being emphasized. In standard Basque, bi normally precedes the noun: bi liburu. Noun + bi is found in some regional usage, but beginners should use the standard order.

Asking how many

Use zenbat for “how many?” or “how much?” It goes before the noun, which remains indefinite:

• Zenbat sarrera nahi dituzu? — How many tickets do you want?
• Zenbat urte dituzu? — How old are you? (Literally, “How many years do you have?”)
• Zenbat balio du? — How much does it cost?

English uses the verb “be” for age, but Basque expresses age with “have”: Hogeita hamar urte ditut means “I am thirty years old.” Learn this as a full pattern rather than translating each word.

Examples in Context

Basque	English	Note
Bat, bi, hiru, lau, bost.	One, two, three, four, five.	Basic counting sequence
Hamar lagun etorri dira.	Ten people have come.	Number before an indefinite noun
Hiru sagar nahi ditut.	I want three apples.	The plural object is reflected in ditut
Kafe bat, mesedez.	One coffee, please.	Bat follows the noun
Bi sarrera nahi ditugu.	We want two tickets.	Standard order: bi + noun
Liburuak hogeita bost euro balio du.	The book costs twenty-five euros.	Price with hogeita bost
Hogeita hamar urte ditut.	I am thirty years old.	Basque uses “have” for age
Berrogei ikasle daude eskolan.	There are forty students at the school.	A multiple of twenty
Berrogeita bi kilometro dira.	It is forty-two kilometres.	40 + 2
Hirurogeita hamar euro behar ditut.	I need seventy euros.	60 + 10
Zenbat ogi nahi dituzu?	How many loaves do you want?	zenbat asks for a quantity
Ehun eta bost pertsona etorri dira.	One hundred and five people have come.	eta after the hundred
Bi mila biztanle ditu herriak.	The town has two thousand inhabitants.	bi mila = 2,000
Nire telefono-zenbakian bi zero daude.	There are two zeros in my phone number.	Digits may be named individually

Common Mistakes

Putting bat before the noun

• Wrong: bat liburu
• Right: liburu bat
• Why: Unlike most cardinal numbers, bat normally follows the noun when it means “one” or “a/an.”

Adding the definite plural ending after a number

• Wrong: hiru sagarrak when you simply mean “three apples”
• Right: hiru sagar
• Why: After a number, the noun is normally indefinite. Hiru sagarrak can have a marked definite reading such as “the three apples,” but it is not the neutral counting phrase.

Building every ten as English does

• Wrong: trying to create 60 from “six tens”
• Right: hirurogei
• Why: Basque groups this part of the number system by twenties: 60 is “three twenties.” Memorize hogei, berrogei, hirurogei, laurogei as anchors.

Separating attached -ta

• Wrong: hogei ta bat in standard formal spelling
• Right: hogeita bat
• Why: In compound numbers, -ta joins the preceding element. The following numeral remains separate.

Using “be” to state age

• Wrong: Hogeita hamar urte naiz.
• Right: Hogeita hamar urte ditut.
• Why: Basque says that someone “has” a number of years. The auxiliary also agrees with the plural object urte.

Ignoring plural agreement in the verb

• Wrong: Hiru sagar nahi dut when referring to three separate apples
• Right: Hiru sagar nahi ditut.
• Why: A quantified noun may lack a visible plural ending, but it is still plural in meaning. Basque auxiliary verbs can show whether the direct object is singular or plural.

Usage Notes

When reading a phone number, code, or account number, speakers often say the digits or convenient groups rather than treating the whole string as one mathematical quantity. A repeated 0 is therefore zero, and 27 may be read as bi, zazpi when it represents two separate digits. Always follow the grouping used by the person giving the number.

For prices, euro commonly stays in the same visible form after a number: hamar euro, hogeita bost euro. Everyday speech may omit information that is obvious from context: a seller can simply answer Bost euro (“Five euros”). Decimal notation and the wording of cents follow the practical context, so first become comfortable recognizing the whole-number forms.

Basque has regional varieties, and number phrases can show variation, particularly the position of bi. The forms taught here follow standard Basque, euskara batua, which is the safest choice in writing, education, and communication across regions.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to master this section at A1, but it explains why number phrases change in longer sentences.

Basque adds case endings (endings that show a phrase’s role, such as “by,” “in,” or “from”) to the end of the whole number phrase. Because the phrase is indefinite, its ending may differ from the definite forms learned with -a/-ak:

• hiru lagun — three friends
• hiru lagunek — three friends (as the doers of a transitive action)
• hiru etxetan — in three houses
• bi egunetan — in two days / on two days

The final word carries the ending for the phrase. This is another reason not to add a definite plural ending automatically after every number.

A definite number phrase is possible when the speaker means a known, complete set. Hiru ikasleak can mean “the three students,” not merely any three students. English often signals the same contrast with “three students” versus “the three students.” For now, use the indefinite pattern for ordinary counting and learn the definite pattern when you study determiners and case declension in more depth.

Cardinal numbers answer “how many?” Ordinal numbers identify position: first, second, third, and so on. Basque usually creates regular ordinals with -garren—for example bigarren (“second”), hirugarren (“third”), and laugarren (“fourth”)—while lehen is the common word for “first.” Ordinals and broader quantity words belong to the next stage of study.

Finally, exact numerical value and grammatical number are related but not identical. A noun after hiru does not display -ak, yet a transitive auxiliary may still mark its plural reference: hiru liburu erosi ditut (“I have bought three books”). Understanding this becomes important when you study Basque verb agreement.

Practice Tips

1. Use four anchor numbers. Memorize hogei, berrogei, hirurogei, laurogei, then build 21–39, 41–59, 61–79, and 81–99 around them. Say a random number in each band instead of reciting only in order.
2. Count real objects with the noun. Say liburu bat, bi liburu, hiru liburu while looking at objects. This trains both the special position of bat and the indefinite noun after larger numbers.
3. Rehearse useful personal facts. Say your age, a few prices, and selected digits from a fictional phone number. Then ask and answer Zenbat...? questions aloud.

Related Concepts

• Next step: Time and Dates — use numbers for clock time, calendar dates, and schedules.
• Next step: Ordinals and Quantities — learn “first,” “second,” “many,” “few,” “enough,” and related expressions.