What does he/she do? — Talking about other people's routines
Once you know how to introduce someone (Hau X da), the next natural step is to tell what that person does: where they live, where they work, how old they are, what their day-to-day life is like. All the conjugation is in the third person, so that is what we practise here.
The questions
| Question | English |
|---|---|
| Non bizi da? | Where does he/she live? |
| Norekin bizi da? | Who does he/she live with? |
| Zenbat urte ditu? | How old is he/she? |
| Zer da bera? / Zer egiten du? | What is he/she? / What does he/she do? |
| Non egiten du lan? | Where does he/she work? |
| Ezkonduta dago? | Is he/she married? |
Answer patterns
Combine what you have learned. The structure is: subject + complements + verb.
| Topic | Sample sentence |
|---|---|
| Residence | Bera Iruñean bizi da. — He/she lives in Pamplona. |
| Company | Bera bikotekidearekin bizi da. — He/she lives with his/her partner. |
| Age | Berak hogeita hamar urte ditu. — He/she is 30 years old. |
| Profession | Bera medikua da. — He/she is a doctor. |
| Work | Berak ospitalean lan egiten du. — He/she works at the hospital. |
The locative -(e)an for the workplace
You already know the suffix -(e)an (“in/at”) from the unit on the neighbourhood and on residence. Here you use it to say where someone works.
| Place | Sentence |
|---|---|
| ospitala (hospital) | ospitalean lan egiten du |
| eskola (school) | eskolan lan egiten du |
| taberna (bar) | tabernan lan egiten du |
| bulegoa (office) | bulegoan lan egiten du |
| denda (shop) | dendan lan egiten du |
| euskaltegia (Basque-language academy) | euskaltegian lan egiten du |
| etxean (at home) | etxean lan egiten du |
Remember: if the word ends in an organic
-a(taberna), it is kept → tabernan. If it ends in a consonant (Madril), an-e-is inserted → Madrilen.
Profession + place = a complete picture
Combining profession with location is what gives consistency to the introduction of a neighbour:
Bera erizaina da, eta ospitalean lan egiten du. Iruñean bizi da, bikotekidearekin, eta bi seme-alaba ditu.
Hau Maialen da. Bera kazetaria da, egunkari batean lan egiten du. Bilbokoa da, baina orain Donostian bizi da.
Marital status (useful vocabulary)
| Euskera | English |
|---|---|
| ezkonduta dago | he/she is married |
| ezkongabea da | he/she is single |
| banatuta dago | he/she is separated |
| dibortziatuta dago | he/she is divorced |
| alargun da | he/she is widowed |
A simple routine
To describe what someone usually does, review the -tzen + du pattern you already saw for household chores:
- Goizean lana hasten du zortzietan. — He/she starts work at eight.
- Eguerdian etxean bazkaltzen du. — At midday he/she eats lunch at home.
- Arratsaldean kirola egiten du. — In the afternoon he/she plays sport.
For A1, individual sentences are enough; you don’t need to string together a whole day. If you can say three clear things about a neighbour, you are already introducing them well.
Ejercicios
How do you say "He/she works at the hospital"?
He/she lives in Pamplona = Iruñean da.
"Bera euskaltegian lan egiten du" — which profession fits best?
He/she is 40 years old = Berrogei urte .