honela / horrela / hala / horrelako

Like This, Such

Level 3

Honela egiten da. (This is how it is done.) Add -ko to describe a thing: horrelako etxe bat (a house like that).

How It Works

Manner words. These words answer the question nola? (how?). They follow the same three steps as the demonstratives and hemen, hor, han:

  • honela: like this, the way I am showing you now. Honela egiten da. (This is how it is done.)
  • horrela: like that, the way you are doing it or the way we just talked about. Ez egin horrela! (Don't do it like that!)
  • hala: that way, pointing back to something known or further away. Hala esan zidan. (That is what he told me.)

In everyday speech, horrela is the most common of the three. It also works as a linking word meaning so or in this way: Horrela, dena ondo joan zen. Some fixed expressions use hala: hala da (that's right) and hala ere (even so; see beraz, hala ere, ordea).

Such, this kind of. Add -ko to get words that describe a noun, the same way -ko links other phrases to a noun (see adnominal -ko):

  • honelako: like this one, of this kind
  • horrelako: like that one, such
  • halako: like that, such

These normally come before the noun, and the noun keeps its article or bat: horrelako etxe bat (a house like that), honelako egunak (days like this). They can also stand alone with an article: Nire etxea horrelakoa da (My house is like that one). In negative sentences they take -rik: Inoiz ez dut halakorik ikusi (I have never seen anything like it).

Watch the difference: horrela describes an action (how you do something), while horrelako describes a thing (what kind of thing). In speech you will also hear hola and holako, which mean the same as horrela and horrelako. halako batean is a set phrase meaning suddenly or at one point.

For extra emphasis, add -xe: horrelaxe (exactly like that). See emphatic -xe.

Examples (6)

  1. Honela egiten da.

    This is how it is done.

    honela: in this way, the way I am showing you.

  2. Ez egin horrela!

    Don't do it like that!

    horrela points to the way the listener is doing it.

  3. Hala esan zidan.

    That is what he told me.

    hala points back to something already known.

  4. Horrelako etxe bat nahi dut.

    I want a house like that.

    horrelako comes before the noun; the noun keeps bat.

  5. Honelako egunak gustatzen zaizkit.

    I like days like this.

    honelako describes egunak; the plural subject needs zaizkit.

  6. Inoiz ez dut halakorik ikusi.

    I have never seen anything like it.

    In a negative sentence, halako takes the partitive -rik.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the manner word horrela to describe a noun.

    Horrela etxe bat nahi dut.
    Horrelako etxe bat nahi dut.

    horrela tells how an action is done, so this sentence can only mean "In this way, I want a house", not "a house like that". To say what kind of thing, add -ko: horrelako.

  • Using horrelako to say how something is done.

    Horrelako egiten da.
    Horrela egiten da.

    horrelako describes a noun. For the way an action is done, use horrela without -ko.

How It Connects

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

honela / horrela / hala / horrelakoLevel 3Like This, Such

Learn This First

Like this builds on demonstratives and nola.

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Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

honelahorrelahalahonelakohalakonola