Iragan burutua NOR — past tense of izan and egon
You already know the recent past (joan naiz, jan dut) from A1. In A2 you take a decisive step: the complete past (iragan burutua). It’s the equivalent of “I was / I did / I said” that you use to narrate closed, distant, or long-past events.
This first lesson focuses on NOR verbs: izan and egon in the past tense.
Past tense of izan (to be)
| Pronoun | Past | English |
|---|---|---|
| ni | nintzen | I was |
| zu | zinen | you were |
| hura | zen | he/she/it was |
| gu | ginen | we were |
| zuek | zineten | you (pl.) were |
| haiek | ziren | they were |
Tip: the final n appears in all forms (nintzen, zinen, zen, ginen, zineten, ziren). It’s the classic mark of the past tense in Basque.
Past tense of egon (to be) — synthetic
Egon has synthetic forms in the past tense, parallel to the present tense nago/zaude/dago…:
| Pronoun | Past | English |
|---|---|---|
| ni | nengoen | I was |
| zu | zeunden | you were |
| hura | zegoen | he/she/it was |
| gu | geunden | we were |
| zuek | zeundeten | you (pl.) were |
| haiek | zeuden | they were |
In everyday speech, it’s also valid to use egon nintzen / egon zen etc., with an auxiliary. The synthetic forms sound more polished or literary, but you will hear them a lot.
Distinction: past izan vs. past egon
Just like in the present tense, in the past tense you maintain the distinction between:
- Quality / identity → izan: Egoitz medikua zen (Egoitz was a doctor).
- Temporary state / location → egon: Egoitz pozik zegoen (Egoitz was happy) / Egoitz Bilbon zegoen (Egoitz was in Bilbao).
Complete past markers
To make the sentence sound like a closed past event, Basque uses time markers:
| English | Basque |
|---|---|
| Yesterday | Atzo |
| Last night | Bart |
| The day before yesterday | Herenegun |
| Last week | Joan den astean / Aurreko astean |
| Last month | Joan den hilean |
| Last year | Joan den urtean / Iaz |
| Two years ago | Duela bi urte |
| A long time ago | Aspaldian / Duela urte asko |
| Then | Orduan |
| In 2010 | 2010ean |
Typical patterns
Atzo ni etxean nintzen goiz osoan. — Yesterday I was at home all morning.
Joan den urtean Garazi Frantzian zegoen. — Last year Garazi was in France.
Duela hamar urte ikaskideak ginen. — Ten years ago we were classmates.
Bart kalean jende asko zegoen. — Last night there were a lot of people in the street.
Haurrak gu ginen, eta orain helduak gara. — We were the children, and now we are adults.
Negation
Just like in the present tense: ez before the verb.
Atzo ez nintzen lanean egon. — Yesterday I wasn’t at work.
Ainara ez zegoen pozik orduan. — Ainara wasn’t happy then.
Gu ez ginen ikaskideak. — We weren’t classmates.
Mini-text
Duela hamar urte Anboto Bartzelonan bizi zen. Han ikaslea zen eta unibertsitateko logelan zegoen. Pozik zegoen baina urruti zegoen familiatik. Astebururo telefonoz hitz egiten zuen amarekin.
Note: in this passage, zen (was) and zegoen (was) coexist, along with other forms we will see in the next lessons. That is the heart of unit 2: weaving together past forms to narrate.
Ejercicios
What is the past tense form of "izan" for "ni" (I)?
"Atzo Bilbon egon nintzen" means…
Two years ago we were neighbors = Duela bi urte bizilagunak .
Last night we were at the cinema = Bart zinean egon .