berori
Very Formal Berori
Nola dago berori? (How are you, sir? Literally, how is your honour?) The verb is dago, not zaude.
How It Works
1. Forms.
- absolutive berori: Nola dago berori?
- ergative berorrek: Zer nahi du berorrek? (What would you like?)
- dative berorri: Berorri atsegin bazaio ... (If it pleases you ...)
- genitive berorren: berorren etxea (your house)
2. Where it was used. In Southern Basque, people once used berori with priests, elders and people of high standing; speaking this way is called berorika. Today it survives in older literature and in the speech of some villages. The everyday respectful form is zu, and the familiar one is hi.
3. The other berori. In modern Southern writing, berori after a hori-type demonstrative means 'that very one', and it copies the same case ending: gauza hori berori (that very thing), horregatik berorregatik (for that very reason). Compare bera.
Tip: If berori follows hori, it means that very one. If it stands alone and someone is being spoken to, it means you.
Examples (5)
- Nola dago berori?
How are you, sir?
Literally, how is your honour? The verb is third person.
- Zer nahi du berorrek?
What would you like, sir?
- Berorrek ez badaki, inork ez daki.
If you do not know, nobody does.
- Berorri atsegin bazaio, bihar etorriko naiz.
If it pleases you, I will come tomorrow.
- Gauza hori berori esan nion.
I told him that very thing.
Here berori means that very one, not you.
Common Mistakes
Using a zu verb form with berori.
Nola zaude berori?Nola dago berori?berori always takes third-person verbs, like hura. zaude goes with zu.
Forgetting the ergative with a transitive verb.
Berori ez badaki, inork ez daki.Berorrek ez badaki, inork ez daki.jakin is transitive, so its subject takes the ergative, berorrek, just as hori becomes horrek.
How It Connects
Learn This First
berori follows hi.
Related Patterns
- ni / zu / hura / gu / zuek / haiekPersonal Pronouns
zu is today's respectful you; berori was one step above it.
Level 1 - toka / nokaAllocutive Forms: Toka and Noka
Another part of the Basque system of forms of address.
Level 6 - hau / hori / huraThis, That and That Over There
berori declines like hori: berorrek, berorri, berorren.
Level 1 - beraThe Same, Itself: Bera
berori also means that very one, like an emphatic bera.
Level 4
Words in This Pattern
Practice berori in Bubblegum
Poppy, your AI tutor, writes Basque lessons at your level. Tap any grammar point in a lesson to see its full explanation.
