-keria

Bad Behaviour: -keria

Level 5

-keria is the "disapproving" ending: it names a quality or an act we judge badly. Harro (proud, arrogant) → harrokeria (arrogance). Asto (donkey) → astakeria (a stupid thing to do).

How It Works

1. From adjectives.

  • harro → harrokeria (arrogance)
  • zikin → zikinkeria (dirtiness; a dirty thing)
  • alfer → alferkeria (laziness, as a vice)
  • ergel → ergelkeria (stupidity)
  • gaizto → gaiztakeria (a wicked act); zoro → zorakeria (madness, nonsense). Final -o often becomes -a.

2. From nouns.

  • asto (donkey) → astakeria (a stupid act)
  • ume (child) → umekeria (childish behaviour)
  • sorgin (witch) → sorginkeria (witchcraft)
  • indar (force) → indarkeria (violence)

3. Good words turned bad. Even a positive word gets a critical tone: maitasun is love, but maitakeria is love that others disapprove of.

4. Counting. Astakeria handiak egin ditu. (He has done some really stupid things.) Zenbat gaiztakeria! (How many wicked deeds!) Neutral -tasun nouns are not used this way.

5. txorakeria. In the South, txorakeria (from txoro, silly) is the everyday word for "nonsense, silly talk". Zorakeria is used everywhere.

Examples (6)

  1. Haren harrokeria ezin dut jasan.

    I can't stand his arrogance.

  2. Ez esan txorakeriarik!

    Don't talk nonsense!

  3. Sukaldea zikinkeriaz beteta dago.

    The kitchen is full of filth.

  4. Gaztetan astakeria asko egin nituen.

    When I was young, I did a lot of stupid things.

  5. Indarkeriaren aurka gaude.

    We are against violence.

  6. Alferkeria da hori, ez nekea.

    That is laziness, not tiredness.

Common Mistakes

  • Using -keria for a quality you admire.

    Zure seme-alabekiko maitakeria miresten dut.
    Zure seme-alabekiko maitasuna miresten dut.

    If you mean "I admire your love for your children", use maitasuna. maitakeria always sounds disapproving.

  • Adding -keria after the article.

    Etxean zikinakeria dago.
    Etxean zikinkeria dago.

    Add -keria to the bare adjective zikin. zikina already has the article.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

-keriaLevel 5Bad Behaviour: -keria

Learn This First

-keria follows -tasun.