hau / hori / hura

This, That and That Over There

Level 1

Basque has three words for this and that: etxe hau (this house), etxe hori (that house, near you) and etxe hura (that house, far away). The plurals are hauek, horiek and haiek.

How It Works

Three distances

  • hau / hauek: this / these, near me
  • hori / horiek: that / those, near you, or something just mentioned
  • hura / haiek: that / those, far from both of us

After the noun, in place of the article

  • etxe hau this house, liburu hauek these books
  • etxe handi hau this big house: the demonstrative comes after the adjective.

As pronouns
Hau Mikel da. This is Mikel. Hori zer da? What is that? Hori egia da. That is true.
Hura and haiek also mean "he, she" and "they". See Personal Pronouns.

Matching place words
The same three distances give hemen (here), hor (there) and han (over there). See Here, There and Over There.

With case endings
The singular forms change their stem before an ending: hon-, horr-, har-, as in etxe honetan (in this house). See This and That With Endings.

Examples (6)

  1. Etxe hau handia da.

    This house is big.

    Word by Word: House this big-the is.

  2. Liburu hori interesgarria da?

    Is that book (near you) interesting?

    Word by Word: Book that interesting-the is?

  3. Mendi hura oso altua da.

    That mountain over there is very high.

    Word by Word: Mountain that(far) very high-the is.

  4. Liburu hauek berriak dira.

    These books are new.

    Word by Word: Book these new-the(pl) are.

    The plural is shown by hauek, so liburu has no -ak.

  5. Hori zer da?

    What is that?

    Word by Word: That what is?

  6. Hau Mikel da.

    This is Mikel.

    Word by Word: This Mikel is.

Common Mistakes

  • Keeping the article on the noun.

    Etxea hau handia da.
    Etxe hau handia da.

    The demonstrative takes the place of the article, so the noun stays bare.

  • Putting the demonstrative before the noun when you mean "this house".

    Hau etxea handia da.
    Etxe hau handia da.

    In a phrase the demonstrative follows the noun. Hau etxea da ("This is the house") is a different, correct sentence.

  • Using -ak on the noun as well as a plural demonstrative.

    Liburuak hauek berriak dira.
    Liburu hauek berriak dira.

    Hauek already shows the plural, so the noun takes no -ak.

How It Connects

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

hau / hori / huraLevel 1This, That and That Over There

Learn This First

Demonstratives are learned after the article whose position they take.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

hauhauhorihorihurahurahauekhauekhaiekhaiek