The verb is one of the most complex parts of Basque grammar. It is sometimes represented as a difficult challenge for learners of the language, and many Basque grammars devote most of their pages to lists or tables of verb paradigms. This article does not give a full list of verb forms; its purpose is to explain the nature and structure of the system.
Verb stems
One of the remarkable characteristics of the Basque verb is the fact that only a very few verbs can be conjugated synthetically (i.e. have morphologicalfinite forms); the rest only have non-finite forms, which can enter into a wide variety of compoundtense structures (consisting of a non-finite verb form combined with a finite auxiliary) and are conjugated in this way (periphrastically). For example, 'I come' is nator (a synthetic finite form), but 'I arrive' is iristen naiz (a periphrastic form, literally 'arriving I-am').
Synthetically conjugated verbs like 'come' can also be conjugated periphrastically (etortzen naiz). In some such cases the synthetic/periphrastic contrast is semantic (e.g. nator and etortzen naiz are not generally interchangeable); in others the contrast is more a matter of style or register, or else of diachrony (some synthetic forms of conjugation are archaic or obsolete). A few synthetic forms occurring in twentieth-century Basque literature are even a posteriori extrapolations or back-formations of historically unattested forms, created for stylistic, poetic or puristic purposes.
Traditionally Basque verbs are cited using a non-finite form conventionally referred to as the participle (although not all its uses are really participial). Other non-finite forms can be derived from the participle, as will be seen in a later section. When the verb possesses synthetic finite forms, these are based on an ultimate stem (called the "basic stem" here) which is normally also present in the participle. For example, the verb etorri 'come' has the basic stem -tor- from which are derived both the participle etorri (with the non-finite prefix e- and the participle suffix-i) and the finite present stem -ator- and non-present stem -etor-.
The participle is generally obtained from the basic stem by prefixing e- or i- (there is no rule; if the stem begins with a vowel, j- is prefixed instead), and suffixing -i (to stems ending in a consonant) or -n (to stems ending in a vowel). Occasionally there is no suffix. The verbal noun stem, another non-finite form, is obtained by replacing the suffixes -i and -n (and also -tu or -du, see below) of the participle by either -tze or -te. A third non-finite form which we shall call the "short stem" is obtained from the participle by omitting any of these suffixes except -n, which is retained in the short stem in those verbs whose participle has it.
Some primary verb stems having finite forms
Finite
Non-finite
Meaning
Basic stem (root)
Present stem
Non-present stem
Participle
Verbal noun
Short stem
-tor-
-ator-
-etor-
e-torr-i
e-tor-tze
e-tor
'come'
-bil-
-abil-
-ebil-
i-bil-i
i-bil-tze
i-bil
'go about'
-kar-
-akar-
-ekar-
e-karr-i
e-kar-tze
e-kar
'bring'
-uka- (< -duka-)
-auka-
-euka-
e-duki
e-duki-tze
e-duki
'hold, have'
(irregular: see below)
i-za-n
i-za-te
i-za-n
'be', auxiliary
-go-
-ago-
-ego-
e-go-n
e-go-te
e-go-n
'stay, be'
-oa-
-oa-
-i(h)oa-
j-oa-n
j-oa-te
j-oa-n
'go'
-rama-
-arama-
-erama-
e-rama-n
e-rama-te
e-rama-n
'take'
-(a)ki-
-aki-
-eki- (dial. -aki-)
j-aki-n
j-aki-te
j-aki-n
'know'
A larger number of Basque verbs have no finite forms, but their non-finite forms follow the same pattern described above (they show an e-/i-/j- prefix, and the participle ends in -i, -n or occasionally zero.
Some primary verb stems without finite forms
Participle
Verbal noun
Short stem
Meaning
e-baki
e-baki-tze
e-baki
'cut'
e-da-n
e-da-te
e-da-n
'drink'
e-gos-i
e-gos-te
e-gos
'boil'
e-ho
e-ho-tze
e-ho
'grind'
e-ror-i
e-ror-tze
e-ror
'fall'
e-ros-i
e-ros-te
e-ros
'buy'
e-uts-i
e-us-te
e-uts
'take hold (of)'
e-zarr-i
e-zar-tze
e-zar
'put, place'
i-go-(n)
i-go-te/tze
i-go-(n)
'go up, rise'
i-kas-i
i-kas-te
i-kas
'learn'
i-pin-i
i-pin-tze
i-pin
'put'
i-reki
i-reki-tze
i-reki
'open'
i-tzal-i
i-tzal-tze
i-tzal
'go/put out (light, fire)'
i-tzul-i
i-tzul-tze
i-tzul
'return'
j-aits-i
j-ais-te
j-aits
'go down'
j-a-n
j-a-te
j-a-n
'eat'
j-antz-i
j-anz-te
j-antz
'dress'
j-arr-i
j-ar-tze
j-ar
'put'
j-i-n
j-i-te
j-i-n
'come'
j-o
j-o-tze
j-o
'strike'
There is also another large group of verbs which again have only non-finite forms, in which the non-finite stem is unanalysable (as a verb, at least), thus there is no e-/i-/j- prefix. In most cases the participle of such verbs has the suffix -tu (-du if the stem ends in n or l). Occasionally we find zero or -i instead. This is replaced by -tze or -te in the verbal noun, and by nothing in the short stem. The stems of these secondary verbs may be (1) a nominal or other non-verbal stem (e.g. poz-tu, garbi-tu...), (2) a phrase (e.g. ohera-tu), (3) a Latin or Romance verbal stem (e.g. barka-tu, kanta-tu...) or (4) an unanalysable (primary) verb stem (e.g. har-tu).
Some secondary verb stems
Participle
Verbal noun
Short stem
Meaning
Lexical source
afal-du
afal-tze
afal
'eat supper'
afari 'supper'
alda-tu
alda-tze
alda
'change'
alde 'difference'
garbi-tu
garbi-tze
garbi
'clean'
garbi 'clean (adj.)'
ohera-tu
ohera-tze
ohera
'go/put to bed'
ohe-ra 'to bed'
poz-tu
poz-te
poz
'be/become happy'
poz 'happiness, joy'
baina-tu
baina-tze
baina
'bathe'
Spanish baña- 'bathe'
barka-tu
barka-tze
barka
'forgive'
Latin parc- 'spare'
begira-tu
begira-tze
begira
'look after, look at, observe'
begira 'looking', from begi 'eye'
kanta-tu
kanta-tze
kanta
'sing'
Spanish canta- 'sing'
gal-du
gal-tze
gal
'lose'
har-tu
har-tze
har
'take'
ken-du
ken-tze
ken
'take away, remove'
sal-du
sal-tze
sal
'sell'
sar-tu
sar-tze
sar
'enter'
atera
atera-tze
atera
'take out, go out'
ate-ra 'to (the) door'
bota
bota-tze
bota
'throw'
Spanish bota- 'throw'
hil
hil-tze
hil
'die, kill'
has-i
has-te
has
'begin'
Defective or anomalous verb stems
Izan ('be')
The verb 'to be', the most common verb in the language, is irregular and shows some stem allomorphy in its finite forms. Its participle is izan.
Egon
Another verb, egon, is used in western dialects (and in writing) as a second verb 'to be' in a way similar to estar in Spanish.
Izan ('have')
The verb 'to have', also extremely common, also shows irregularities in its finite conjugation. In western and central dialects and in standard Basque, izan is used as its participle, i.e. the same participle as for 'to be'; the two meanings are disambiguated by the context. Given that Basque verbs are conventionally cited in their participle form, this presents a problem for metalinguistic terminology, because the verb izan is ambiguous.
Ukan/*Edun
Eastern dialects avoid this ambiguity by using ukan as the participle of 'to have', reserving izan for 'to be', and some grammarians employ izan and ukan in this way for convenience, but this could create confusion since most Basque speakers do not actually employ ukan (or even know it as a metalinguistic term). Other grammarians refer to 'to have' as *edun, which is a hypothetical, unattested form derived from the finite stem -du-; again, the problem is that *edun does not exist in real Basque usage.
To avoid such problems, this article simply refers to "the verb 'to be'" and "the verb 'to have'".
*Edin, *Ezan
The two standard aorist auxiliaries (see below) lack any non-finite forms, and so also have no obvious citation forms. As with *edun, some grammars construct hypothetical participles based on the finite stems, referring to *edin (the intransitive aorist auxiliary) and *ezan (the transitive aorist auxiliary).
Eduki
There is another verb which also means 'have', at least in western dialects, namely eduki. As a lexical verb (rather than an auxiliary), many speakers and writers frequently use this verb. (This is somewhat reminiscent of, though not entirely parallel to, the Spanish distribution of haber and tener.)
Esan
The verb esan ('to say') possesses finite forms which have a different stem, -io- (e.g. diot 'I say'). Some grammarians treat these as different defective verbs, while others consider them a single word with stem allomorphy.
Synthetic conjugation
Tense structure and stem forms
Synthetic (single-word) conjugation involves the following finite "tenses":
The simple "tenses"
(Non-potential)
Potential
Imperative
Present
Present
Present potential
Imperative
Past
Past
Past potential
Hypothetic
Hypothetic
Hypothetic potential
Finite verbs have a basic finite stem that is either an unanalysable lexical root (e.g. -bil- 'go about, move (intr.)') or such a root preceded by the causative/intensive prefix -ra- (e.g. -rabil- 'cause to move, use'). From regular basic stems two tense stems are derived as follows: the present stem with prefix -a- and the non-present stem with prefix -e-, e.g. -abil- and -ebil- are the regular present and non-present stems of -bil-, -arabil- and -erabil- are the corresponding tense stems of -rabil-, and so on. The present stem is used in the present tense, the present potential tense and the non-third-personimperative, e.g. present d-abil 'he/she/it goes about', present potential d-abil-ke 'he/she/it may go about', second-person imperative h-abil! 'go about!'. The non-present stem is used in the past and hypothetic tenses (non-potential and potential), and in third-person imperative forms, e.g. z-ebil-en 'he/she/it went about', ba-l-ebil 'if he/she/it went about', z-ebil-ke-en 'he/she/it might or would have gone about', l-ebil-ke 'he/she/it might or would go about', b-ebil! 'let him/her/it go about!' (not in common use).
Non-present stems are further characterised by prefixes containing an n whenever the primary index (defined below) is non-third-person, e.g. z-ebil-en 'he went about' but n-enbil-en 'I went about', h-enbil-en 'you went about'; l-erabil-ke 'he would use it' but n-inderabil-ke 'he would use me'.
The suffix -(e)n is a marker of the past tenses, and -ke of the potential tenses (the past potential has both: -ke-en). The hypothetic non-potential tense usually occurs with the subordinator prefix ba- 'if', which will therefore be shown in examples; use of ba- is not restricted to the hypothetic, however (e.g. ba-dabil 'if he goes about', etc.). Apart from the tense markers mentioned, third-person prefixes distinguish between present, past, hypothetic and imperative tenses, as will be seen below.
Synopses of two verbs are given in the following table as illustrations. The verb 'to be' (izan) is irregular but in extremely frequent use, because it also serves as an important auxiliary. The verb ibili 'go about, move, etc.' (root -bil-) is regularly conjugated, although not all its synthetic forms are in widespread use. This synoptic table shows third-person forms.
Synopsis of simple "tenses"
izan 'to be'
ibili 'to go about'
Non-potential
Potential
Imperative
Non-potential
Potential
Imperative
Present
da 'is'
dateke 'may be'
biz (archaic) 'let (it) be!'
dabil 'goes about'
dabilke 'may go about'
bebil 'let (it) go about!'
Past
zen 'was'
zatekeen 'would have been'
zebilen 'went about'
zebilkeen 'would have gone about'
Hypothetic
ba-litz 'if X were'
litzateke 'would be'
ba-lebil 'if X went about'
lebilke 'would go about'
Primary person indices
All conjugating verb stems (unless defective) can take the following set of person-indexing prefixes: n- (first-person singular), h- (second-person singular informal), g- (first-person plural), z- (second-person singular formal and second-person plural). With intransitive verbs, these prefixes index the subject; with transitives, they index the direct object. For convenience, we shall refer to this as the set of 'primary person indices'.
First- and second-person primary indices
Person
Pronoun
Prefix
1 singular
ni
n-
2 singular informal
hi
h-
1 plural
gu
g-
2 singular polite/plural
zu/zuek
z-
The following table shows some examples of how these prefixes combine with verb stems to produce a wide range of finite verb forms.
First- and second-person primary indices (examples)
Intransitive
Transitive
'to be'
ibili 'to go about'
'to have'
ekarri 'to bring'
Present
ni
n-aiz
(I am)
n-abil
(I go about)
n-au
(has me)
n-akar
(brings me)
hi
h-aiz
h-abil
h-au
h-akar
gu
g-ara
g-abiltza
g-aitu
g-akartza
zu
z-ara
z-abiltza
z-aitu
z-akartza
Past
ni
n-intz-en
(I was)
n-enbil-en
n-indu-en
n-indekarr-en
hi
h-intz-en
h-enbil-en
h-indu-en
h-indekarr-en
gu
g-in-en
g-enbiltza-n
g-intu-en
g-indekartza-n
zu
z-in-en
z-enbiltza-n
z-intu-en
z-indekartza-n
Hypothetic
ni
ba-n-intz
(if I were)
ba-n-enbil
ba-n-indu
ba-n-indekar
hi
ba-h-intz
ba-h-enbil
ba-h-indu
ba-h-indekar
gu
ba-g-ina
ba-g-enbiltza
ba-g-intu
ba-g-indekartza
zu
ba-z-ina
ba-z-enbiltza
ba-z-intu
ba-z-indekartza
Third-person forms
Third-person verbs (here the 'person' again refers to the subject in intransitive verbs but the object in transitives) also take a prefix, which is invariable for number (singular or plural) but varies for tense, as follows: d- is used in the present tense, z- in the past, l- in the hypothetic and b- in third-person imperative forms (generally archaic or literary).
Third-person prefixes
Tense
Affix
Present
d-
Past
z-
Hypothetic
l-
Imperative
b-
Some illustrative examples follow.
Third-person verb forms
Intransitive
Transitive
'to be'
ibili 'to go about'
'to have'
ekarri 'to bring'
Present
Singular
d-a
(is)
d-abil
(goes about)
d-u
(has him/her/it)
d-akar
(brings him/her/it)
Plural
d-ira
(are)
d-abiltza
d-itu
(has them)
d-akartza
Past
Singular
z-en
(was)
z-ebil-en
z-uen
z-ekarr-en
Plural
z-ir-en
z-ebiltza-n
z-itu-en
z-ekartza-n
Hypothetic
Singular
ba-l-itz
ba-l-ebil
ba-l-u
ba-l-ekar
Plural
ba-l-ira
ba-l-ebiltza
ba-l-itu
ba-l-ekartza
Third-person imperative
Imperative
Singular
b-iz (archaic)
(let him/her/it be)
b-ebil (rare)
b-eu (obsolete)
b-ekar (literary)
Plural
b-ira (obsolete)
(let them be)
b-ebiltza (rare)
b-ekartza (literary)
Plural marking
Plural number is marked in finite verbs in various ways, depending on the arguments whose plurality is being indexed. One set of plural forms are 'primary', that is, once again they refer to either the 'intransitive subject' or the 'transitive object' (the absolutive case agreement). The form of primary plural marking varies irregularly according to the verb stem, and may involve miscellaneous stem changes or the placement of a plural marker immediately adjacent to the singular stem (-z, -zki, -tza, it-, -te). Singular and plural forms of some finite verb stems are shown in the following table.
Some singular and plural finite stems (present tense forms)
Intransitive
Transitive
Singular subject
Plural subject
Meaning
Singular object
Plural object
Meaning
-a-iz, -a-∅
-a-ra (< *-a-ira), -∅-ira (verbal root change)
'be'
-a-u, -∅-u
-a-it-u, -∅-it-u
'have'
-a-go
-a-u-de (< *-a-go-te)
'stay, be'
-a-u-ka
-a-u-z-ka
'hold, have'
-a-bil
-a-bil-tza
'go about, move'
-a-kar
-a-kar-tza
'bring'
-oa
-oa-z
'go'
-a-ra-ma / -a-r-oa (both from *-a-ra-oa, with causative infix -ra-)
-a-ra-ma-tza / -a-r-oa-z
'take'
-a-tor
-a-to-z (< *-a-tor-z)
'come'
-a-ki
-a-ki-zki
'know'
Primary plural marking occurs whenever the indexed argument (subject or direct object) is plural. The second-person singular polite (pronoun zu) is also treated as plural for this purpose (because originally it was a second-person plural), although syntactically and semantically singular. To index the second-person plural (pronoun zuek), in addition to the markers corresponding to zu a further ('secondary') plural marker -te is suffixed.
Plural marking associated with primary arguments
(PRESENT)
Intransitive
Transitive
'to be'
i-bil-i 'to go about'
'to have'
e-karr-i 'to bring'
Singular
ni
n-a-iz
n-a-bil
n-a-u
n-a-kar
hi
h-a-iz
h-a-bil
h-a-u
h-a-kar
hura
d-a-∅
d-a-bil
d-∅-u
d-a-kar
Plural
gu
g-a-ra (< *g-a-ira)
g-a-bil-tza
g-a-it-u
g-a-kar-tza
zu
z-a-ra (< *z-a-ira)
z-a-bil-tza
z-a-it-u
z-a-kar-tza
zuek
z-a-re-te (< *z-a-ira-te)
z-a-bil-tza-te
z-a-it-u-z-te (*)
z-a-kar-tza-te
haiek
d-∅-ira
d-a-bil-tza
d-∅-it-u
d-a-kar-tza
Note: The second -z- in zaituzte is not here a plural marker, but merely an epenthetic sound inserted where the sequence tute would otherwise occur; this happens in other similar cases as well, such as dituzte for *ditute.
Ergative person and number suffixes
The ergative case is the case of subjects of transitive verbs. Such arguments are indexed in a different way from 'primary' arguments. Person of the ergative marker may be indexed in one of two ways: using suffixes or prefixes. The ergative-index plural marker is always a suffix (-te). The ergative person suffixes are as follows; those for the first- and second-person singular end in -a whenever another suffix morpheme follows them. The absence of an ergative suffix in transitive verbs (except those discussed in the next section) implies a third-person subject.
ERGATIVE SUFFIXES
PERSON
PRONOUN
SUFFIX
(word-final)
(non-word-final)
1 singular
nik
-t
-da-
2 singular informal masculine
hik
-k
-a-
2 singular informal feminine
-n(a)
-na-
3 singular
hark
—
1 plural
guk
-gu(-)
2 singular polite
zuk
-zu(-)
2 plural
zuek
-zue(-)
3 plural
haiek
-te(-)
A few sample paradigms follow.
Ergative suffixes (examples)
'to have'
ekarri 'to bring'
'(I ... ) have him/her/it'
'(I ... ) have them'
'(you ... ) have me'
'(I ... ) bring him/her/it'
Present
nik
d-u-t
d-itu-t
—
d-akar-t
hik male
d-u-k
d-itu-k
n-au-k
d-akar-k
hik female
d-u-n
d-itu-n
n-au-n
d-akar-na
hark
d-u
d-itu
n-au
d-akar
guk
d-u-gu
d-itu-gu
—
d-akar-gu
zuk
d-u-zu
d-itu-zu
n-au-zu
d-akar-zu
zuek
d-u-zu-e
d-itu-zu-e
n-au-zu-e
d-akar-zu-e
haiek
d-u-te
d-ituz-te
n-au-te
d-akar-te
Past
nik
(See following section)
—
(See following section)
hik male
n-indu-a-n
hik female
n-indu-na-n
hark
z-u-en
z-itu-en
n-indu-en
z-ekarr-en
guk
(See following section)
—
(See following section)
zuk
n-indu-zu-n
zuek
n-indu-zu-e-n
haiek
z-u-te-n
z-ituz-te-n
n-indu-te-n
z-ekar-te-n
Ergative person prefixes
Instead of the ergative suffixes, ergative prefixes are used to index first- or second-person ergative arguments if the tense is non-present and the direct object is third person (see the gaps in the previous table). The ergative prefixes are identical to the primary prefixes in the singular, but in the plural -en- is added to the primary prefix forms:
Ergative prefixes
Person
Pronoun
Prefix
1 singular
nik
n-
2 singular informal
hik
h-
1 plural
guk
gen-
2 singular polite/plural
zuk/zuek
zen-
The ergative plural suffix -te only occurs when required (a) to indicate the third person plural, or (b) to indicate the (real) second-person plural.
Ergative prefixes (examples)
'to have'
ekarri 'to bring'
'(I) had him/her/it' (past)
'(I) had them' (past)
'if (I) had him/her/it' (hypothetic)
'(I) would have him/her/it' (hypothetic potential)
'(I) brought him/her/it' (past)
nik
n-u-en
n-itu-en
ba-n-u
n-u-ke
n-ekarr-en
hik
h-u-en
h-itu-en
ba-h-u
h-u-ke
h-ekarr-en
hark
z-u-en
z-itu-en
ba-l-u
l-u-ke
z-ekarr-en
guk
gen-u-en
gen-itu-en
ba-gen-u
gen-u-ke
gen-ekarr-en
zuk
zen-u-en
zen-itu-en
ba-zen-u
zen-u-ke
zen-ekarr-en
zuek
zen-u-te-n
zen-ituz-te-n
ba-zen-u-te
zen-u-ke-te
zen-ekar-te-n
haiek
z-u-te-n
z-ituz-te-n
ba-l-u-te
l-u-ke-te
z-ekar-te-n
Dative argument indices
Finite verbs that have an argument in the dative case also index the dative argument using the following set of dative suffixes (which are identical in form to the ergative suffixes except in the third person):
DATIVE SUFFIXES
PERSON
PRONOUN
SUFFIX
(word-final)
(non-word-final)
1 singular
niri
-t
-da-
2 singular informal masculine
hiri
-k
-a-
2 singular informal feminine
-n (-na)
-na-
3 singular
hari
-o(-)
1 plural
guri
-gu(-)
2 singular polite
zuri
-zu(-)
2 plural
zuei
-zue(-)
3 plural
haiei
-e(-)
Both intransitive and transitive verbs may take dative indices, and the mechanism for incorporating these is the same in either case. Dative suffixes immediately follow the verb stem, preceding other suffixes such as the ergative suffixes (thus in d-i-da-zu 'you have it to me', -da- is the dative suffix and -zu is the ergative suffix) or the potential suffix -ke (as well as the past suffix -(e)n, which is always word-final).
Only the primary plural marker, if present, and the dative-argument marker precede the dative suffix. The dative-argument marker, whose regular form is -ki-, is added to basic verb stems to indicate that these are taking a dative argument. With -ki-, the primary plural marker always takes the form of -z- immediately preceding -ki-. A few verb stems have an irregular dative-argument form.
Some dative-argument verb stem forms
Intransitive
Transitive
Basic stem (present)
Dative stem
Meaning
Basic stem
Dative stem
Meaning
Sing. subject
Plur. subject
Sing. dir. obj.
Plur. dir. obj.
-aiz, -a
zai-
zaizki-
'be'
-au, -u
-i-
-izki-
'have'
-ago
-agoki-
-agozki-
'stay, be'
-akar
-akarki-
-akarzki-
'bring'
-abil
-abilki-
-abilzki-
'go about, move'
-arama
-aramaki-
-aramazki-
'take'
-oa
-oaki-
-oazki-
'go'
-ator
-atorki-
-atozki-
'come'
The most commonly used dative verb forms are those of the irregular verbs 'to be' and 'to have', which are in constant use as tense auxiliaries, when these verbs have no lexical meaning of their own. This is the reason why many of the glosses given below sound odd (e.g. dit 'he has it to me'); an example of a more natural-sounding use of this form as an auxiliary would be eman dit 'he has given it to me'. Nevertheless, the following table serves to clarify the morphological structure of dative-argument verb forms.
Dative-argument forms (examples)
INTRANSITIVE VERBS
'to be'
etorri 'to come'
'he/she/it is to (me ... )'
'they are to (me ... )'
'he/she/it was to (me ... )'
'he/she/it comes to (me ... )'
'I come to (him/her/it ... )'
niri
zai-t
zaizki-t
z-itzai-da-n
d-atorki-t
—
hari
zai-o
zaizki-o
z-itzai-o-n
d-atorki-o
n-atorki-o
guri
zai-gu
zaizki-gu
z-itzai-gu-n
d-atorki-gu
—
haiei
zai-e
zaizki-e
z-itzai-e-n
d-atorki-e
n-atorki-e
TRANSITIVE VERBS
'to have'
ekarri 'to bring'
'he/she/it has him/her/it to (me ... )'
'you have him/her/it to (me ... )'
'he/she/it has them to (me ... )'
'he/she/it had him/her/it to (me ... )'
'he/she/it brings him/her/it to (me ... )'
niri
d-i-t
d-i-da-zu
d-izki-t
z-i-da-n
d-akarki-t
hari
d-i-o
d-i-o-zu
d-izki-o
z-i-o-n
d-akarki-o
guri
d-i-gu
d-i-gu-zu
d-izki-gu
z-i-gu-n
d-akarki-gu
haiei
d-i-e
d-i-e-zu
d-izki-e
z-i-e-n
d-akarki-e
A complete table of the most common forms of the auxiliaries izan and ukan
Familiar forms and allocutive indices (hika)
2019 Argia magazine cover about the loss of noka (feminine hika). Hi, aizan! means "Thou [female], hear!".Old Basque speakers talking in Basque about the perception of hika.
In colloquial Basque, an informal relationship and social solidarity between the speaker and a single interlocutor may be expressed by employing a special mode of speech often referred to in Basque as either hika or hitano (both derived from hi, the informal second-person pronoun; in other places the same phenomenon is named noka and toka for female and male interlocutors respectively). The obligatory grammatical characteristics of this mode are:
The personal pronounhi is used (rather than the polite second-person singular pronoun zu).
All finite verb forms that index a second-person argument take (as one would expect) the corresponding hi forms, e.g. haiz "you are" (rather than zara), dun or duk "you have it" (rather than duzu), etc.:
Familiar second-person forms (examples)
Meaning
Polite
Familiar
female
male
"you are"
zara
haiz
"you were"
zinen
hintzen
"you come"
zatoz
hator
"you have it"
duzu
dun
duk
"you have them"
dituzu
ditun
dituk
"you had it"
zenuen
huen
"you know it"
dakizu
dakin
dakik
"it is to you"
zaizu
zain
zaik
"(s)he has it to you"
dizu
din
dik
"(s)he has them to you"
dizkizu
dizkin
dizkik
"I have it to you"
dizut
dinat
diat
"(s)he had it to you"
zizun
zinan
zian
"I had it to you"
nizun
ninan
nian
Obligatorily in independent declarative clauses with finite verb forms not indexing a true second-person argument, an additional second-person index is incorporated. This is known as the allocutive construction, and we may refer to these second-person indices that do not refer to a syntactic argument of the verb as "allocutive indices".
The allocutive suffixes are identical in form to the ergative and dative suffixes.
ALLOCUTIVE SUFFIXES
PERSON
SUFFIX
(word-final)
(non-word-final)
2 singular informal masculine
-k
-a-
2 singular informal feminine
-n (-na)
-na-
Allocutive suffixes follow the dative suffixes, the potential -ke- and ergative third-person plural -te-, and precedes other ergative suffixes (except for the synthetic forms of the verb esan with plural object). Depending on the verb in question, there may also be some other changes:
The allocutive forms of the verb "to be" (izan) without a dative argument use the root -(it)u-. They are identical to the forms of the verb "to have", except for third-person in non-present tenses:
Familiar allocutive forms: izan (examples)
Meaning
Polite
Familiar
Also means ...
Notes
female
male
"(s)he/it is"
da
dun
duk
'you have him/her/it'
"(s)he/it was"
zen
zunan
zuan
cf. huen "you had it/her/him"
"(s)he/it would be"
litzateke
luken
lukek
cf. huke "you would have it/her/him"
"I am"
naiz
naun
nauk
"you have me"
"I was"
nintzen
nindunan
ninduan
"you had me"
"I would be"
nintzateke
ninduken
nindukek
"you would have me"
"we are"
gara
gaitun
gaituk
"you have us"
"they are"
dira
ditun
dituk
"you have them"
In the allocutive forms of the verb "to have" (izan) without a dative argument the -u- in the root changes to -i- (so the root becomes -(it)i). Some form are identical to the forms of the verb "to have" with dative argument
Familiar allocutive forms: *edun/ukan (examples)
Meaning
Polite
Familiar
Also means ...
Notes
female
male
"(s)he/it has it"
du
din
dik
"he/she/it has it to you"
"I have it"
dut
dinat
diat
"I have it to you"
"we have it"
dugu
dinagu
diagu
"we have it to you"
"they have it"
dute
diten
ditek
and not *di(n)ate
"(s)he/it has them"
ditu
ditun
dituk
"(s)he/it has them to you"
"I have them"
ditut
ditinat
ditiat
cf. dizki(n)at "I have them to you"
"(s)he/it had it"
zuen
zinan
zian
"(s)he/it had it to you"
"I had it"
nuen
ninan
nian
"I had it to you"
"(s)he/it has me"
nau
nain
naik
"they had us"
gintuzten
gintiztenan
gintiztean
and not *ginti(n)aten or anything like *gindizki(n)aten
In all other verb forms, the procedure is as follows, sometimes (there is considerable dialectal variation on this point), the third-person present-tense primary prefix d- changes to z- and/or the present-tense stem formant -a- changes to -ia- or -e- in the allocutive forms.
In standard Basque, d- changes to z- in transitive aorist auxiliaries (*ezan) and all non-auxiliary verbs. The present-tense format may or may not change to -e-. If the allocutive suffix immediately follows the verb stem ending in a consonant, a vowel is inserted (-a- after -z- pluralizer, -e- otherwise).
In the synthetic forms of the verb esan with plural object, the allocutive suffix is placed after the pluralizer -z- (which, as an exception, is placed after an ergative suffix). In the singular forms of this verb the allocutive suffix is placed as usual (i.e. before ergative suffix).
Familiar allocutive forms (examples)
Meaning
Polite
Familiar
Notes
female
male
"(s)he/it comes"
dator
zatorren, zetorren
zatorrek, zetorrek
"I come"
nator
natorren
natorrek
"We come"
gatoz
gatozan
gatozak
"(s)he/it knows"
daki
zakin, zekin
zakik, zekik
cf. dakin/k "You know"
"I know it"
dakit
zakinat, zekinat
zakiat, zekiat
"(S)he/it brings me"
nakar
nakarren
nakarrek
cf. nakarna/k "You bring me"
"I can be"
izan naiteke
izan naiteken
izan naitekek
and not nazaken/k
"I can see it"
ikus dezaket
ikus zezakenat
ikus zezakeat
"I say these"
diodaz
ziodazan
ziodazak
"I say it"
diot
zionat
zioat
"it/(s)he is to it/her/him"
zaio
zaion
zaiok
"it/(s)he is to me"
zait
zaidan
zaidak
"it/(s)he has it to it/her/him"
dio
zion
ziok
cf. dion/k "You have it to it/her/him"
"it/(s)he has it to me"
dit
zidan
zidak
cf. didan/k "You have it to me"
Eastern Basque dialects extend the allocutive system to the more polite form of address, zu (known as zuka or zutano), or the affectionate variant xu. The rules are similar.
Such dialects have three levels of address:
allocutive hi (with a female/male distinction) is the most intimate
allocutive zu or xu is polite but friendly
the absence of allocutive constructions is the most neutral or formal
But most dialects lack the middle level.
The use of hika forms is diminishing being perceived as more direct and close, but also rural and impolite.
Even among who use them, the masculine forms are more frequently used than the feminine ones, sometimes even using masculine forms for women.
An explanation is that, in the rural exodus of Basque peasants, men would end up working in a factory with people of their same town, while women became maids, shop clerks or waitresses where informal Basque would be felt improper.[1]
Periphrastic conjugation
Compound tense stem forms
Compound tense forms consist of a non-finite verb form (the compound tense stem) and a finite auxiliary form. We shall begin by looking at the non-finite stems. Each verb has four: the perfect, future, imperfect and short stems. The perfect stem is identical to the participle (see above). The future stem is obtained from the participle by adding -ko (-go after n). The imperfect stem is the verbal noun (see above) plus the suffix -n. The form of the short stem was discussed above. Some examples follow.
Compound tense stems (examples)
Perfect stem
Future stem
Imperfect stem
Short stem
Meaning
hartu
hartuko
hartzen
har
'take'
garbitu
garbituko
garbitzen
garbi
'clean'
kendu
kenduko
kentzen
ken
'take away, remove'
poztu
poztuko
pozten
poz
'be/become happy'
ibili
ibiliko
ibiltzen
ibil
'go about'
ikusi
ikusiko
ikusten
ikus
'see'
iritsi
iritsiko
iristen
irits
'arrive'
ireki
irekiko
irekitzen
ireki
'open'
bete
beteko
betetzen
bete
'fill'
jo
joko
jotzen
jo
'strike'
hil
hilko
hiltzen
hil
'die, kill'
egin
egingo
egiten
egin
'make, do'
eman
emango
ematen
eman
'give'
esan
esango
esaten
esan
'say'
Compound tense auxiliaries
By combining the four compound tense stems with various auxiliaries, one obtains four groups of compound tense, sometimes referred to in Basque grammar as "aspects", which we shall call Imperfect, Perfect, Future and Aorist (= "aspect"-less) respectively.
The choice of auxiliary depends on the "aspect" and also on whether the verb is intransitive or transitive. Except in the aorist, the auxiliary for intransitives is the verb 'to be', while that for transitives is the verb 'to have'. In the Aorist a different pair of auxiliaries is used, one for intransitives and another for transitives. Since neither of the latter is used other than as an auxiliary, and neither has a participle (or other non-finite form) to provide a convenient citation form, we shall simply refer to them as the (intransitive and transitive) aorist auxiliaries.
The auxiliaries adopt all the argument indices (for subject, direct object and/or indirect object as the case may be, as well as the allocutive where applicable) that correspond to the verb within its clause.
Compound tense patterns
"ASPECT"
TENSE STEM
INTRANSITIVE
TRANSITIVE
IMPERFECT
IMPERFECT +
'to be'
'to have'
PERFECT
PERFECT +
'to be'
'to have'
FUTURE
FUTURE +
'to be'
'to have'
AORIST
SHORT +
Intransitive Aorist Auxiliary
Transitive Aorist Auxiliary
The above diagram illustrates the patterns with auxiliaries in the present tense. However, the same auxiliaries may be used in a wide variety of tenses, not only in the present. The following two tables lay out synoptically the possible auxiliary/tense combinations for intransitive and transitive auxiliaries respectively.
Tenses of the intransitive auxiliaries (sample forms)
'Be' auxiliary
Aorist Auxiliary
Non-potential
Potential
Non-potential
Potential
Imperative
Present
naiz
naizateke (literary)
nadi-n
naiteke
hadi
Past
nintzen
nintzatekeen (literary)
nendi-n
nintekeen
Hypothetic
banintz
nintzateke
banendi (literary)
ninteke
Tenses of the transitive auxiliaries (sample forms)
'Have' auxiliary
Aorist Auxiliary
Non-potential
Potential
Non-potential
Potential
Imperative
Present
dut
duket (literary)
dezada-n
dezaket
ezak
Past
nuen
nukeen (literary)
neza-n
nezakeen
Hypothetic
banu
nuke
baneza (literary)
nezake
Simple and compound tenses
The following are the most usual Basque tenses. By considering both simple and compound tenses as part of a single list, one can better see how the whole system fits together and compare the tenses with each other.
Some simple and compound tenses
Tense
Form
Examples
Observations
Present simple
SYNTHETIC PRESENT
naiz 'I am'
nator 'I am coming'
daukat 'I have (it)'
dakit 'I know'
Only those few verbs that can be conjugated synthetically have this tense. With stative verbs (e.g. izan 'be' or 'have', egon, eduki, jakin...) it expresses present state, e.g. da 'is'. With dynamic verbs (e.g. etorri, joan, ibili, ekarri, eraman...) it most often expresses ongoing action at the time of speaking, e.g. dator 'is coming', but note also badator 'if (X) comes', datorrenean 'when (X) comes' etc.
With dynamic verbs or verbs possessing synthetic conjugation, this tense usually expresses habitual action within the present time frame, e.g. kantatzen dut, etortzen naiz.... With stative verbs lacking a simple present, this tense also expresses a present state, e.g. ikusten dut 'I (can) see', ezagutzen dut 'I am acquainted with'. The habitual sense can also be absent in kantatzen badu 'if he sings', etortzen denean 'when he comes' (= datorrenean), etc.
Future
FUTURE STEM + present of 'be'/'have'
izango naiz 'I will be'
etorriko naiz 'I will come'
erosiko ditut 'I will buy them'
This is the basic future tense for all verbs. It can also convey conjecture, most obviously with stative verbs when it is clear that no future reference is expressed, e.g. izango da for 'probably is': Egia izango da 'It is probably true.' In illocutionary contexts this tense is equivalent to English modal 'shall' or 'will', e.g. Kantatuko dut? 'Shall/Should I sing?', Lagunduko didazu? 'Will/Would/Could you help me (please)?'
Simple past
SYNTHETIC PAST
nintzen 'I was'
neukan 'I had (it)'
nekien 'I knew'
Limited to verbs that can be conjugated synthetically, with which it expresses a past state or ongoing action.
Past habitual
IMPERFECT STEM + past of 'be'/'have'
izaten nintzen 'I used to be'
etortzen nintzen 'I used to come'
ikusten nuen 'I saw, I could see'
With dynamic verbs and stative ones with synthetic conjugation, expresses habitual action in the past (etortzen nintzen, izaten nintzen). With stative verbs, past state (ikusten nuen).
Near past
PERFECT STEM + present of 'be'/'have'
etorri naiz 'I came, I have come'
ikusi dut 'I saw, I have seen'
Originally this tense expressed perfect in a present time-frame, e.g. ikusi dut 'I have seen (at some time in the past)'. Also used as a perfective past tense within the "current" time unit, usually interpreted as the day of speaking: ikusi dut 'I saw (usually understood: at some time today)'.
Remote past
PERFECT STEM + past of 'be'/'have'
etorri nintzen 'I came, I had come'
ikusi nuen 'I saw, I had seen'
Originally this expressed a pluperfect, i.e. perfect in a past time-frame, e.g. ikusi nuen 'I had seen'. Also used as a perfective past tense within a past time unit, which must be earlier than the day of speaking: ikusi nuen 'I saw (yesterday, three years ago ... )'.
Future-in-the-past
FUTURE STEM + past of 'be'/'have'
etorriko nintzen 'I would come (in indirect speech), I would have come (in conditional sentences)'
ikusiko nuen 'I would see, I would have seen'
(a) Future action in past time frame: Etorriko zela esan zuen 'He said he would come'. (b) Consequence of an unfulfilled hypothesis, e.g. Jakin izan balu, etorriko zen 'If he had known, he would have come'. (c) Conjecture about past action, e.g. Gure aurretik etorriko zen 'He probably came/must have come before us.'
Hypothetic
FUTURE STEM + hypothetic of 'be'/'have'
etorriko banintz 'if I came, if I were to come'
ikusiko banu 'if I saw, if I were to see'
Hypothetical if-clauses.
Conditional
FUTURE STEM + hypothetic potential of 'be'/'have'
etorriko nintzateke 'I would come'
ikusiko nuke 'I would see'
Consequence to a hypothetical premise (explicit or implied).
Complement clauses and purpose clauses. More common in literary than colloquial style.
Present potential
SHORT STEM + present potential of aorist auxiliary
etor naiteke 'I can come'
ikus dezaket 'I can see'
Possibility or ability.
Simple imperative
SYNTHETIC IMPERATIVE
zatoz! 'come!'
emaidazu! 'give me!'
Imperative.
Compound imperative
SHORT STEM + imperative of aorist auxiliary
etor zaitez! 'come!'
egin ezazu! 'do it!'
Non-finite imperative
SHORT (or PERFECT) STEM
etor(ri)! 'come!'
eman! 'give!'
More periphrastic constructions
Some other constructions that commonly express a range of aspectual or modal notions show a greater degree of periphrasis than those considered so far. A brief selection of some of the most important of these are shown in the following table:
Necessity/obligation ('must/have to/need to do something')
-tu/-i/-n (etc.) + behar DU
joan behar dut 'I have to go'
jan behar dituzu 'you must eat them'
ikasi beharko dugu 'we will have to learn'
Ability ('can/be able to do something')
-tu/-i/-n (etc.) or -tzen/-ten + ahal DA/DU
ikasi/ikasten ahal dut 'I can learn'
etorri ahal izango zara 'you will be able to come'
Non-finite verb forms
Basque verbs have a fairly wide range of non-finite forms. Morphologically these can all be derived via suffixation from the three non-finite forms presented at the beginning of this article: the participle, the verbal noun and the short stem. Apart from the short stem (which has a rather limited set of functions), all other forms are built on either the participle or the verbal noun.
The participle and derived forms
The participle and some other non-finite forms derived therefrom are as follows. To avoid repetition, mention will not be made of the use of the participle as a perfect stem in the formation of periphrastic tenses (see above).
Some non-finite forms based on the participle
Form
E.g.
Use
Examples
Participle
etorri
edan
garbitu
ireki, etc. (see above)
verbal adjective
ate ireki bat 'an open door'
ate irekiak 'open doors'
Atea irekia dago. 'The door is open.'
unmarked non-finite form (chain clauses, modal complement, citation form ... )
Ura
water
edan
drink.PTCP
eta
and
ardoa
wine
utziko
leave.FUT
dugu.
AUX
Ura edan eta ardoa utziko dugu.
water drink.PTCP and wine leave.FUT AUX
'We'll drink the water and leave the wine.'
Mahaia
table
garbitu
clean.PTCP
behar
must
dugu.
AUX
Mahaia garbitu behar dugu.
table clean.PTCP must AUX
'We must clean the table.'
"Come"
come
hitzak
word.ERG
"etorri"
"come".PTCP
esan
say.PTCP
nahi
want
du.
AUX
"Come" hitzak "etorri" esan nahi du.
come word.ERG "come".PTCP say.PTCP want AUX
'The word "come" means "etorri".'
commonly replaces the short stem in all uses (western colloquial)
The verbal noun and some other non-finite forms derived therefrom are as follows. Again, to avoid repetition, mention will not be made of the use of the -t(z)en form as an imperfect stem in the formation of periphrastic tenses (see above).
Some non-finite forms based on the verbal noun
Form
E.g.
Use
Examples
Verbal noun + determiner
ikaste(a)
edate(a)
oheratze(a)
irekitze(a)
verbal noun
Berandu
late
oheratzea
go.to.bed.VN.ART
txarra
bad.ART
da.
is
Berandu oheratzea txarra da.
late go.to.bed.VN.ART bad.ART is
'Going to bed late is bad.'
Euskara
Basque
ikasteak
learn.VN.ART.ERG
asko
much
lagunduko
help.FUT
dizu.
AUX
Euskara ikasteak asko lagunduko dizu.
Basque learn.VN.ART.ERG much help.FUT AUX
'Learning Basque will help you a lot.'
complement clause
Nire
my
lagunak
friend.ART.ERG
nik
I/me.ERG
euskara
Basque
ikastea
learn.VN.ART
nahi
want
du.
AUX
Nire lagunak nik euskara ikastea nahi du.
my friend.ART.ERG I/me.ERG Basque learn.VN.ART want AUX
'My friend wants me to learn Basque.'
Ardoa
wine
edatea
drink.VN.ART
erabaki
decide.PTCP
dugu.
AUX
Ardoa edatea erabaki dugu.
wine drink.VN.ART decide.PTCP AUX
'We have decided to drink wine.'
Verbal noun + -ko
ikasteko
joateko
garbitzeko
irekitzeko
purpose adverbial
Liburu
...
bat
...
erosiko
...
dut
...
euskara
Basque
ikasteko.
learn.VN-ko
Liburu bat erosiko dut euskara ikasteko.
... ... ... ... Basque learn.VN-ko
'I will buy a book in order to learn Basque.'
complement clause
Irakasleak
...
etxera
...
joateko
go.VN-ko
esan
say.PTCP
dit.
AUX
Irakasleak etxera joateko esan dit.
... ... go.VN-ko say.PTCP AUX
'The teacher told me to go home.'
adjectival
botilak
bottle.PL.ART
irekitzeko
open.VN-ko
tresna
tool
bat
one
botilak irekitzeko tresna bat
bottle.PL.ART open.VN-ko tool one
'a tool for opening bottles (with)', 'a bottle-opener'
Verbal noun + -ra
ikastera
joatera
garbitzera
irekitzera
complement of verbs of movement
Hau
this
esatera
say.VN-ra
etorri
come.PTCP
naiz.
AUX
Hau esatera etorri naiz.
this say.VN-ra come.PTCP AUX
'I have come to say this.'
Verbal noun + -n
ikusten
joaten
garbitzen
irekitzen
complement clause
Leihoak
window.PL.ART
irekitzen
open.VN-n
hasi
begin.PTCP
zen.
AUX
Leihoak irekitzen hasi zen.
window.PL.ART open.VN-n begin.PTCP AUX
'He started opening the windows.'
Joaten
go.VN-n
utziko
let.FUT
diogu.
AUX
Joaten utziko diogu.
go.VN-n let.FUT AUX
'We'll let him go.'
Verbal noun + -an
ikustean
joatean
garbitzean
irekitzean
time clause
Zu
you
ikustean,
see.VN-an,
gogoratu
remember.PTCP
naiz.
AUX
Zu ikustean, gogoratu naiz.
you see.VN-an, remember.PTCP AUX
'When I saw you (On seeing you), I remembered.'
Compound verbs
Basque has a fairly large number of compound verbs of a type also known as light verb constructions, consisting of two parts. The first component is a lexical element which is often (but not always) an undeclined noun. The second is a common verb which contributes less semantic content to the construction but is the part that is conjugated, thus lending to the whole its verbal character. Details of conjugation depend on the light verb used, which may be one that has synthetic finite forms (e.g. izan), or a verb without synthetic finite forms (e.g. egin or hartu).
Some compound verbs (light verb constructions)
Light verb
Examples
Meaning
Meaning of first component
izan 'be'
bizi izan
'live'
'alive'
ari izan
'be doing something'
izan 'have'
maite izan
'love'
'dear'
uste izan
'believe, think'
'opinion'
nahi izan
'want'
'desire'
behar izan
'need'
'necessity'
egin 'make, do'
lan egin
'work'
'work (n.)'
hitz egin
'speak'
'word'
lo egin
'sleep'
'sleep (n.)'
amets egin
'dream'
'dream (n.)'
barre egin
'laugh'
'laughter'
negar egin
'weep'
'weeping'
dantza egin
'dance'
'dancing' < French danse, Spanish danza ...
kosk egin
'bite'
(onomatopoeia)
In synthetically conjugated light-verb constructions such as bizi naiz 'I live' or maite dut 'I love', care must be taken not to confuse the light verb (naiz, dut...) with tense auxiliaries; bizi naiz and maite dut are simple present forms, for example. The modal verbs nahi izan and behar izan are also of this kind. In the periphrastic tenses of compound verbs with izan, some contractions occur, e.g. in the future of bizi izan 'live', where we would expect bizi izango naiz for 'I will live', biziko naiz is more common, with -ko attached directly onto the lexical component bizi as if this were a verb.
Compound verbs, especially those with the light verb egin, offer an alternative way (besides direct derivation with -tu, as seen above) for incorporating new verbs into the language, either through the incorporation of onomatopoeic words (kosk 'bite', oka 'vomit', hurrup 'sip' or 'slurp', klik 'click' ... ) or of loanwords (dantza 'dance', salto 'jump' etc.) as lexical components.
Verbal particles
A small set of modalparticles, including al, ote and omen only occur immediately preceding finite forms (i.e. in front of a synthetic finite form or the synthetic part of an auxiliary verb).
Modal particles
Particle
Function
Examples
al
yes/no questions
Etorriko al da? 'Will he come?'
ote
tentative questions, 'I wonder ... '
Etorriko ote da? 'I wonder if he will come.'
omen
hearsay
Etorriko omen da. 'I have heard/They say that he will come.'
The only exception is that ote and omen are sometimes used in isolation where the ellipsis of a verb is understood. E.g. Egia ote? 'I wonder if it's true' is easily recognised by speakers to be an ellipsis of Egia ote da? Or if someone says Badator 'She's coming.' and someone else responds Omen! 'Supposedly!', this is as much as to say that the first utterance should incorporate omen, i.e. Ba omen dator 'Supposedly she is coming.'
Another set of preverbal particles consists of the affirmative particle ba- (by modern convention joined to a following finite verb form) and the negator ez. These are compatible with the modal particles, which they precede (e.g. ba omen dator in the preceding paragraph; ez al dakizu? 'don't you know?', etc.); apart from this, they too immediately precede the finite verb form.
Emphasis/negation particles
Particle
Function
Examples
ba
affirmative emphasis
Badator. 'He is coming.'
ez
negation
Ez da etorriko. 'He won't come.'
Subordinator affixes
The forms of verbs cited throughout the general presentation of the finite verb system are normally those that occur in main clauses. (However, certain forms, such as the non-potential hypothetic, e.g. -litz, or the subjunctive, e.g. etor dadi-, never occur in such main-clause forms and these are therefore cited in subordinate forms such as balitz, etor dadin etc.)
In subordinate clauses, the finite verb takes a subordinator affix, i.e. a suffix or prefix which establishes (to some extent) the kind of subordination. Basically there are four such affixes, two suffixes and two prefixes, and one (and only one) of these is found in every subordinate form.
Both of the suffixes, however, may take further suffixes (mostly nominal declension suffixes) which serve to further specify the type of subordination. The following table provides a brief overview of some of the main uses and forms.
Subordinator affixes
Affix
Function
Examples
Suffixed to finite forms:
-(e)n
indirect question
Ez dakit nor den. 'I don't know who he/she is.' (Cf. Nor da? 'Who is he/she?')
relative clause
Hor dabilen gizona nire aita da. 'The man who is walking there is my father.' (Cf. Hor dabil gizona. 'The man is walking there.')
complement or purpose clause (with subjunctive)
Nahiago dut etor dadin. 'I prefer him to come.' (= 'that he may come')
Gutun hau idatzi dut irakur dezazun. 'I have written this letter in order for you to read it.'
Allières, Jacques (1983). De la formalisation du système verbal basque. Article in Pierres Lafitte-ri omenaldia, pp. 37–39, Bilbo: Euskaltzaindia. [1](in French)
Bonaparte, L-L. (1869). Le verbe basque en tableaux. London. (in French)
Euskara Institutua, Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea (UPV/EHU) (2013), "Euskal Adizkitegi Automatikoa" (Automatic Basque Verbal Forms Generator)
Euskaltzaindia (1973). Aditz laguntzaile batua. (in Basque)
Euskaltzaindia (1987). Euskal gramatika: lehen urratsak (volume 2). Bilbao: Euskaltzaindia. (in Basque)
Euskaltzaindia (1994). Adizki alokutiboak (hikako moldea) (in Basque)