Basque verbs

Theverbis one of the most complex parts ofBasque 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 beconjugatedsynthetically (i.e. havemorphologicalfiniteforms); the rest only havenon-finiteforms, which can enter into a wide variety ofcompoundtensestructures (consisting of a non-finite verb form combined with a finiteauxiliary) and are conjugated in this way (periphrastically). For example, 'I come' isnator(a synthetic finite form), but 'I arrive' isiristen 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 issemantic(e.g.natorandetortzen naizare not generally interchangeable); in others the contrast is more a matter of style or register, or else ofdiachrony(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 theparticiple(although not all its uses are really participial). Other non-finite forms can bederivedfrom 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 verbetorri'come' has the basic stem-tor-from which are derived both the participleetorri(with the non-finite prefixe-and the participlesuffix-i) and the finite present stem-ator-and non-present stem-etor-.

The participle is generally obtained from the basic stem by prefi xinge-ori-(there is no rule; if the stem begins with a vowel,j-is prefixed instead), and suffi xing-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-iand-n(and also-tuor-du,see below) of the participle by either-tzeor-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 ane-/i-/j-prefix, and the participle ends in-i,-nor 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 noe-/i-/j-prefix. In most cases the participle of such verbs has the suffix-tu(-duif the stem ends innorl). Occasionally we find zero or-iinstead. This is replaced by-tzeor-tein the verbal noun, and by nothing in the short stem. The stems of thesesecondaryverbs 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'	Spanishbaña-'bathe'
barka-tu	barka-tze	barka	'forgive'	Latinparc-'spare'
begira-tu	begira-tze	begira	'look after, look at, observe'	begira'looking', frombegi'eye'
kanta-tu	kanta-tze	kanta	'sing'	Spanishcanta-'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'	Spanishbota-'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 isizan.

Egon

Another verb,egon,is used in western dialects (and in writing) as a second verb 'to be' in a way similar toestarin 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,izanis 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 verbizanis ambiguous.

Ukan/*Edun

Eastern dialects avoid this ambiguity by usingukanas the participle of 'to have', reservingizanfor 'to be', and some grammarians employizanandukanin this way for convenience, but this could create confusion since most Basque speakers do not actually employukan(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 *edundoes 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 standardaoristauxiliaries (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(theintransitiveaorist auxiliary) and *ezan(thetransitiveaorist auxiliary).

Eduki

There is another verb which also means 'have', at least in western dialects, namelyeduki.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 ofhaberandtener.)

Esan

The verbesan('to say') possesses finite forms which have a different stem,-io-(e.g.diot'I say'). Some grammarians treat these as differentdefective 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 thecausative/intensiveprefix-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. presentd-abil'he/she/it goes about', present potentiald-abil-ke'he/she/it may go about', second-person imperativeh-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 annwhenever the primary index (defined below) is non-third-person, e.g.z-ebil-en'he went about' butn-enbil-en'I went about',h-enbil-en'you went about';l-erabil-ke'he would use it' butn-inderabil-ke'he would use me'.

The suffix-(e)nis a marker of the past tenses, and-keof the potential tenses (the past potential has both:-ke-en). The hypothetic non-potential tense usually occurs with thesubordinatorprefixba-'if', which will therefore be shown in examples; use ofba-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 verbibili'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-inde xing prefixes:n-(first-person singular),h-(second-person singular informal),g-(first-personplural),z-(second-person singular formal and second-person plural). Withintransitive verbs,these prefixes index thesubject;withtransitives,they index thedirect 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 fornumber(singular or plural) but varies for tense, as follows:d-is used in the present tense,z-in the past,l-in the hypothetic andb-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 theargumentswhose 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' (theabsolutive caseagreement). 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 (pronounzu) 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 (pronounzuek), in addition to the markers corresponding tozua further ('secondary') plural marker-teis 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-inzaituzteis not here a plural marker, but merely anepentheticsound inserted where the sequencetutewould otherwise occur; this happens in other similar cases as well, such asdituztefor *ditute.

Ergative person and number suffixes

Theergative caseis 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-awhenever another suffixmorphemefollows 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
	hikmale	d-u-k	d-itu-k	n-au-k	d-akar-k
	hikfemale	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)
	hikmale			n-indu-a-n
	hikfemale			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-teonly 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 thedativecase 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 ind-i-da-zu'you have it to me',-da-is the dative suffix and-zuis 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 beeman 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 auxiliariesizanandukan

Familiar forms and allocutive indices (hika)

2019Argiamagazine cover about the loss ofnoka(femininehika).Hi, aizan!means "Thou [female], hear!".

Old Basque speakers talking in Basque about the perception ofhika.

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 eitherhikaorhitano(both derived fromhi,the informal second-person pronoun; in other places the same phenomenon is namednokaandtokaforfemale and male interlocutorsrespectively). The obligatory grammatical characteristics of this mode are:

• Thepersonal pronounhiis used (rather than the polite second-person singular pronounzu).
• All finite verb forms that index a second-person argument take (as one would expect) the correspondinghiforms, e.g.haiz"you are" (rather thanzara),dunorduk"you have it" (rather thanduzu), 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 inde xing a true second-person argument, an additional second-person index is incorporated. This is known as theallocutiveconstruction, 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 verbesanwith 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)atenor 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 prefixd-changes toz-and/or the present-tense stem formant-a-changes to-ia-or-e-in the allocutive forms.

In standard Basque,d-changes toz-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 verbesanwith 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 notnazaken/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 aszukaorzutano), or the affectionate variantxu.The rules are similar.
Such dialects have three levels of address:

allocutivehi(with a female/male distinction) is the most intimate

allocutivezuorxuis polite but friendly

the absence of allocutive constructions is the most neutral or formal

But most dialects lack the middle level.

The use ofhikaforms 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 therural exodusof 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.

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: theperfect,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(-goaftern). 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 andAorist(= "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 alsobadator'if (X) comes',datorrenean'when (X) comes' etc.
Presenthabitual	IMPERFECT STEM + present of 'be'/'have'	izaten naiz'I am (habitually)' etortzen naiz'I come (habitually)' ikusten dut'I see' kantatzen dut'I sing'	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 inkantatzen 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 dafor 'probably is':Egia izango da'It is probably true.' In illocutionary contexts this tense is equivalent to Englishmodal'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).
Presentsubjunctive	SHORT STEM + present of aorist auxiliary	etor nadin'that I may come' ikus dezadan'that I may see'	Complementclauses 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 ofaspectualormodalnotions 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:

Some periphrastic constructions

Sense	Form	Examples
Progressive aspect('be doing something')	-tzen/-ten+ariDA	ikasten ari naiz'I am learning' garbitzen ari ziren'they were cleaning'
Volition ('want to do something')	-tu/-i/-n(etc.) +nahiDU	ikasi nahi dut'I want to learn' joan nahi zuen'he wanted to go' ikusi nahi zaitut'I want to see you'
Necessity/obligation ('must/have to/need to do something')	-tu/-i/-n(etc.) +beharDU	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+ahalDA/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	ateirekibat'an open door' ateirekiak'open doors' Ateairekiadago.'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 Uraedaneta 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 Mahaiagarbitubehar 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. comeword.ERG "come".PTCP say.PTCP want AUX 'The word "come" means "etorri".'
		commonly replaces the short stem in all uses (western colloquial)
Participle +-(r)ik/ Participle +-ta (da)	egosirik/egosita jakinik/jakinda garbiturik/garbituta beterik/beteta	stative adverbial participle	Hau this jakinik/jakinda, know.PTCP-ik/ta ez ... nion ... sinetsi. ... Haujakinik/jakinda,ez nion sinetsi. this know.PTCP-ik/ta......... 'Knowing this, I did not believe him.'
		participial predicate	Haragia meat egosirik/egosita boil.PTCP-ik/ta dago. is Haragiaegosirik/egositadago. meat boil.PTCP-ik/tais 'The meat is boiled.'
Participle +-tako (dako)	ikusitako egindako hartutako hildako	adjectival (= non-finiterelative)	Zuk you.ERG ikusitako see.PTCP-tako gizona man itsua blind da. is Zukikusitakogizona itsua da. you.ERG see.PTCP-takoman blind is 'The man you saw (= seen by you) is blind.'
Participle +-(e)z	ikusiz edanez hartuz ateraz	dynamic adverbial participle	Dirua money hartuz, take.PTCP-z joan ... zen. ... Diruahartuz,joan zen. money take.PTCP-z...... 'Taking the money, he went.'

The verbal noun and derived forms

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)enform 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 Beranduoheratzeatxarra 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 Euskaraikasteakasko 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 euskaraikasteanahi 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 Ardoaedateaerabaki 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 euskaraikasteko. ............ 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 etxerajoatekoesan dit. ...... go.VN-kosay.PTCP AUX 'The teacher told me to go home.'
		adjectival	botilak bottle.PL.ART irekitzeko open.VN-ko tresna tool bat one botilakirekitzekotresna bat bottle.PL.ART open.VN-kotool 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 Hauesateraetorri naiz. this say.VN-racome.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 Leihoakirekitzenhasi zen. window.PL.ART open.VN-nbegin.PTCP AUX 'He started opening the windows.' Joaten go.VN-n utziko let.FUT diogu. AUX Joatenutziko diogu. go.VN-nlet.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 Zuikustean,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 aslight verbconstructions, 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.eginorhartu).

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' < Frenchdanse,Spanishdanza...
	kosk egin	'bite'	(onomatopoeia)

In synthetically conjugated light-verb constructions such asbizi naiz'I live' ormaite dut'I love', care must be taken not to confuse the light verb (naiz, dut...) with tense auxiliaries;bizi naizandmaite dutare simple present forms, for example. The modal verbsnahi izanandbehar izanare also of this kind. In the periphrastic tenses of compound verbs withizan,some contractions occur, e.g. in the future ofbizi izan'live', where we would expectbizi izango naizfor 'I will live',biziko naizis more common, with-koattached directly onto the lexical componentbizias if this were a verb.

Compound verbs, especially those with the light verbegin,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 ofloanwords(dantza'dance',salto'jump' etc.) as lexical components.

Verbal particles

A small set ofmodalparticles,includingal,oteandomenonly occur immediately preceding finite forms (i.e. in front of a synthetic finite form or the synthetic part of anauxiliary 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 thatoteandomenare 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 ofEgia ote da?Or if someone saysBadator'She's coming.' and someone else respondsOmen!'Supposedly!', this is as much as to say that the first utterance should incorporateomen,i.e.Ba omen dator'Supposedly she is coming.'

Another set of preverbal particles consists of the affirmative particleba-(by modern convention joined to a following finite verb form) and the negatorez.These are compatible with the modal particles, which they precede (e.g.ba omen datorin 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 thesubjunctive,e.g.etor dadi-,never occur in such main-clause forms and these are therefore cited insubordinateforms such asbalitz,etor dadinetc.)

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.

Basic subordinator morphemes

Subordinator	Form	Uses
-(e)n	suffix	relative clauses,indirect questions, other uses
-(e)la	suffix	indirect statements, circumstantial clauses
ba-	prefix	conditions
bai(t)-	prefix	explanations

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 dabilengizona 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.'
		first-person optative	Edan dezagun!'Let us drink!'
	-(e)nik	negation-polaritycomplement clause	Ez dut esan etorriko denik.'I didn't say (that) he is going to come.'
	-(e)nean	time clause, 'when'	Etortzen deneanesango diot.'When she comes I will tell her.'
	-(e)nez	manner, 'as'	Lehen esan dudanez,bihar etorriko da.'As I said before, he will come tomorrow.' Nik dakidanez,hori ez da egia.'As far as I know, that is not true.'
	-(e)la	indirect statement	Uste dut etorriko dela.'I think she will come.'
		circumstance clause	Kaletik zetorrelahauxe kantatu zuen.'As she came (walking) along the street, this is what she sang.'
		complement clause (with subjunctive)	Hona etor dadilaesango diot.'I will tell him to come here.'
		third-person optative	Berak jan dezala!'Let him eat it!'
	-(e)larik	time/circumstance clause ('while, when')	Ondo pasako duzu euskara ikasten ari zarelarik.'You will have a good time while/when (you are) learning Basque.'
	-(e)lako	reason clause, 'because'	Zuk deitu didazulakoetorri naiz.'I have come because you called me.'
Prefixed to finite forms:	ba-	condition clause	Euskara ikastenbaduzu, euskaldunak ulertuko dituzu.'If you learn the Basque language, you will understand the Basques.'
	bai(t)-	explanatory or reason clause	Ezbaituzu euskara ikasi, ez dituzu euskaldunak ulertzen.'Since you haven't learnt Basque, you don't understand the Basques.'

Bibliography

(see also the bibliography inBasque grammar)

• Allières, Jacques (1983). De la formalisation du système verbal basque. Article inPierres 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)