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