The verb egon and temporary states

In Basque there are two verbs where English uses just one. You already know izan (“to be” for qualities). Now it’s time for egon, which translates as “to be” when we talk about temporary states: how someone is today, right now, at this moment.

The paradigm of egon

Pronoun	Egon	English
ni	nago	I am
hi	hago	you are (informal, we don’t use it at A1)
zu	zaude	you are
hura	dago	he/she is
gu	gaude	we are
zuek	zaudete	you (pl.) are
haiek	daude	they are

Notice you have already seen some of these forms: in zer moduz? the natural reply is ondo nago (“I am well”). The endings look like those of izan (-zu / -zue / -de) but the root is different (nag-, daud-).

Typical states: no final -a

The big trap: when an adjective goes with egon, it does NOT take the final -a. Compare:

• Izan (stable quality): I am cheerful → Ni alaia naiz. (with -a)
• Egon (temporary state): I am happy today → Ni pozik nago. (without -a)

State	English
pozik	happy
triste	sad
nekatuta	tired
haserre	angry
lasai	calm (at this moment)
urduri	nervous (right now)
gaixorik	ill
ondo	well
gaizki	bad / unwell

Some of these end in -ik (pozik, gaixorik) or -ta (nekatuta, ezkonduta); others are adverbs (ondo, gaizki); others are simply invariable words (haserre, triste). None of them takes the -a typical of adjectives with izan.

Typical phrases

• Ni pozik nago. — I am happy.
• Maialen triste dago. — Maialen is sad.
• Zu nekatuta zaude? — Are you tired?
• Gu haserre gaude. — We are angry.
• Haiek gaixorik daude. — They are ill.

Asking about someone’s state

• Nola zaude? — How are you?
• Zer moduz? — How’s it going? (the most colloquial)
• Ondo, eskerrik asko. Eta zu? — Fine, thanks. And you?
• Nekatuta nago. — I am tired.
• Pixka bat gaixorik nago. — I am a little ill.

Egon also locates

Apart from states, egon is used to say where someone or something is:

• Etxean nago. — I am at home.
• Maialen lanean dago. — Maialen is at work.
• Liburuak mahaian daude. — The books are on the table.

This overlaps with izan in a curious way: Ni ikaslea naiz (“I am a student” = profession, quality), but Ni ikastetxean nago (“I am at school” = location). In the next lesson, we’ll see them in contrast.