zehar / inguruan

Throughout and Around

Level 4

zehar means through or all over: herrian zehar (around the town), urtean zehar (all through the year). inguruan means around: etxearen inguruan (around the house), and also gai honen inguruan (about this topic).

How It Works

zehar: through and throughout. Put the place or time in the inessive -n and add zehar:

  • Space: herrian zehar (around the town, all over it), mundu osoan zehar (all over the world), kalean zehar (along the street)
  • Time: urtean zehar (throughout the year), egunean zehar (during the day), mendeetan zehar (over the centuries)

zehar describes movement or spread across a whole area or period. It does not take the article or any case ending itself.

inguruan: around. The place takes the genitive -(r)en: etxearen inguruan (around the house), mahaiaren inguruan (around the table). With a place name or a short noun, the genitive can be left out: Bilbo inguruan (around Bilbao). Since inguru is a noun, it changes its ending like one: etxearen ingurura (to the area around the house). As a modifier it becomes inguruko: inguruko herriak (the nearby towns).

inguruan: about a topic. -(r)en inguruan also means about, like -(r)i buruz: Gai honen inguruan hitz egin nahi dut (I want to talk about this topic). It is common in news and meetings.

Around a time or a number. After a time word, inguruan means approximately: eguerdi inguruan (around noon). After a number, inguru alone means about: berrogei urte inguru (about forty years).

Examples (6)

  1. Herrian zehar ibili gara goiz osoan.

    We have walked all around the town all morning.

  2. Urtean zehar, hiru aldiz joaten gara mendira.

    Over the year, we go to the mountains three times.

    With a time word, zehar means throughout that period.

  3. Mundu osoan zehar bidaiatu du.

    She has travelled all over the world.

  4. Umeak etxearen inguruan jolasten ari dira.

    The children are playing around the house.

  5. Gai honen inguruan hitz egin nahi dut.

    I want to talk about this topic.

    Here inguruan means about.

  6. Eguerdi inguruan iritsiko gara.

    We will arrive around noon.

Common Mistakes

  • Leaving out the inessive before zehar.

    Urtea zehar, hiru aldiz joaten gara mendira.
    Urtean zehar, hiru aldiz joaten gara mendira.

    zehar always follows a noun in the inessive -n: urtean zehar, herrian zehar.

  • Using the genitive with zehar.

    Herriaren zehar ibili gara.
    Herrian zehar ibili gara.

    The genitive -(r)en goes before inguruan, not before zehar. zehar takes the inessive.

How It Connects

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

zehar / inguruanLevel 4Throughout and Around

Learn This First

The two postpositions take different preceding case forms.

Words in This Pattern

zeharinguruinguru