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People and Past 2

​People and Past 2

  • As mentioned earlier, Southern Basque (like Spanish) has two different verbs that can be translated as “to be”; izan and egon.
  • Like for the present tense, Izan in the past is used for facts or qualities that are fairly permanent, fixed attributes of something.

Simple Past vs Simple Present of Izan

  • Ni nintzen: I was
  • Ni naiz: I am*
  • Zu zinen: You (single) were
  • Zu zara: You (single) are*
  • Hura zen: He/she/it was
  • Hura da: He/she/it is*
  • Gu ginen: We were
  • Gu gara: We are*
  • Zuek zineten: You (plural) were
  • Zuek zarete: You (plural) are*
  • Haiek ziren: They were
  • Haiek dira: They are

Vocabulary People and Past 2

  • Ni nintzen: I was
  • Zu zinen: You (single) were
  • Hura zen: He/she/it was
  • Gu ginen: We were
  • Zuek zineten:You (plural) were
  • Haiek ziren: They were
  • orain: now
  • gaur: today
  • baina: but

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