How to Say “Beautiful” in Basque

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eder
/eder/
The English word beautiful is eder in Basque.
In Basque, eder can be used to describe physical attractiveness as well as the pleasantness or niceness of an object, a place or a situation.
Meaning: attractive (adj)

How does it change in a sentence?

The form of the adjective changes depending on the noun it modifies. Use ederra when the adjective modifies a singular noun, such as neska ederra (a beautiful girl). Use ederrak when the adjective modifies a plural noun, such as neskak ederrak (beautiful girls). Additionally, ederraren is the genitive or possessive form of the singular adjective ederra, meaning 'of the beautiful'.

How do you pronounce it?

/eder/

Did you know?

  • The word eder is a linguistic isolate, meaning it has no known cognates in any other living language family, including the neighboring Romance or Germanic languages.
  • In some Basque dialects, eder is not just for beauty but is used to describe something that is 'well-made' or 'perfectly crafted', regardless of its appearance.
  • The suffix used to make the word plural, -ak in ederrak, is the same suffix used to mark the definite article, essentially meaning 'the beautiful ones'.

Examples in context

  • Italia oso herri ederra da.
    Italy is a very beautiful country.
    This sentence shows how to use eder to describe a country.
    Tatoeba #3802034 by basaundi, translation #1658 by CK
  • Mary neska ederra da.
    Mary is a beautiful girl.
    This sentence shows how to use eder to describe a girl.
    Tatoeba #3375840 by eneko, translation #2045772 by CK
  • Junko neska ederra da.
    Junko is a beautiful girl.
    Tatoeba #3375832 by eneko, translation #1134088 by CN
  • Oso polita zaude.
    You are very beautiful.
  • Etxea oso polita da.
    The house is very beautiful.
  • Hau polita da
    This is beautiful
  • Ederra zaude.
    You are beautiful.
  • 3 more sentences on Tatoeba

Example conversation

Nerea and Ander are walking through a park.

  1. Nerea

    Begira, ederra da lore hau!
    Look, this flower is beautiful!
  2. Ander

    Bai, oso kolorea ederra da.
    Yes, the color is very beautiful.
  3. Nerea

    Hemen dena eder da.
    Everything here is beautiful.
  4. Ander

    Egia da, Nerea.
    That is true, Nerea.

Sources

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Kelsey Amy
Kelsey AmyHelp make this guide better. Spot a mistake, know another way to say it, or have an example from real life? Share it below.
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