Aditz trinkoak iraganean — synthetic verbs in the past
Synthetic verbs (aditz trinkoak) are the few Basque verbs that are conjugated without an auxiliary, in a single word. You already know their present tense forms: noa, nator, nabil, daukat, dakit, nago. In the past tense, they have parallel forms that are good to recognize and, for the most common ones, to master.
Visual summary
For the six key synthetic verbs, here’s how the past tense looks for the 1st and 3rd person:
| Verb | Present (I) | Past (I) | Past (he/she) |
|---|---|---|---|
| joan (to go) | noa | nindoan | zihoan |
| etorri (to come) | nator | nentorren | zetorren |
| ibili (to walk) | nabil | nenbilen | zebilen |
| egon (to be) | nago | nengoen | zegoen |
| eduki (to have) | daukat | neukan | zeukan |
| jakin (to know) | dakit | nekien | zekien |
What they have in common: they start with n- (I) or z- (3rd person, formal you, or you all) and end in -en. This is the general pattern for the synthetic past.
Joan (to go) — full past tense
| Pronoun | Form | English |
|---|---|---|
| ni | nindoan | I was going / I went (ongoing) |
| zu | zindoazen | you were going / you went |
| hura | zihoan | he/she was going / went |
| gu | gindoazen | we were going |
| zuek | zindoazten | you (pl.) were going |
| haiek | zihoazen | they were going |
Egunero zortzietan lanera nindoan. — I used to go to work at eight every day.
Etorri (to come)
| Pronoun | Form | English |
|---|---|---|
| ni | nentorren | I was coming |
| zu | zentozen | you were coming |
| hura | zetorren | he/she was coming |
| gu | gentozen | we were coming |
| zuek | zentozten | you (pl.) were coming |
| haiek | zetozen | they were coming |
Lagunak Donostiatik zetozen. — The friends were coming from San Sebastián.
Ibili (to walk)
| Pronoun | Form | English |
|---|---|---|
| ni | nenbilen | I was walking |
| hura | zebilen | he/she was walking |
| gu | genbiltzan | we were walking |
| haiek | zebiltzan | they were walking |
Garazi mendian zebilen lagunekin. — Garazi was walking in the mountains with her friends.
When do I use nindoan vs. joan nintzen?
That’s the key question. Roughly:
| Form | Type of past | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Joan nintzen (analytic + participle) | Specific, finished, complete event | Atzo Bilbora joan nintzen zortzietan. (= yesterday I went to Bilbao) |
| Nindoan (synthetic) | Ongoing action, habit, description of the past | Bilborantz nindoan, ezagun bat ikusi nuenean. (= I was going towards Bilbao when I saw an acquaintance) |
Quick rule: the synthetic form (nindoan, nentorren, nenbilen) describes the scene in the past. The form with a participle (joan nintzen, etorri nintzen) narrates the event in the past. The difference is very similar to ‘was going’ vs. ‘went’ in English.
NOR-NORK synthetic verbs: neukan, nekien
We remember these two from the previous lesson because they also belong to the trinkoak family:
Egoitzek bizikleta gorri bat zeukan. — Egoitz had a red bike.
Inork ez zekien zergatik etorri zen. — Nobody knew why he/she came.
Other NOR-NORK synthetic verbs (ekarri/zekarren, eraman/zeraman) appear less frequently in everyday A2 level Basque; it’s enough to recognize them.
Mini-text
Umea nintzenean, oporretan beti aiton-amonen baserrira nindoan. Han nengoen astebete edo bi. Goizean, lehengusuak etorri ohi ziren eta egun osoa elkarrekin igarotzen genuen: txakurrarekin mendi inguruan genbiltzan, sagastian sagarrak biltzen genituen eta amonak gosari ederra prestatzen zigun. Pozik nengoen beti.
Teaching note: it’s not necessary to master all synthetic forms at the A2 level. The important thing is to recognize them when they appear and be able to use at least nengoen, zegoen, neukan, zeukan, nekien, zekien, nindoan, zihoan, nenbilen, zebilen. The rest will stick with reading.
Ejercicios
"Lanera nindoan goizeko zortzietan" means…
What is the synthetic past form of "etorri" for "I"?
Garazi was walking in the mountains = Garazi mendian .