Iragan ez burutua — imperfect past and progressive aspect
The Basque imperfect (iragan ez burutua) roughly corresponds to the English “I was eating / I lived / I used to go / I was working”. It’s used to talk about:
- Past habits (what you used to do).
- Descriptions (what something was like, where you lived, what you had).
- Ongoing actions that serve as a backdrop for another specific action.
The formula
verb in -tzen / -ten + auxiliary in the past
Compare present vs. imperfect:
| Present (habit today) | Imperfect (habit yesterday) |
|---|---|
| Lan egiten dut (I work) | Lan egiten nuen (I used to work) |
| Bilbon bizi naiz (I live) | Bilbon bizi nintzen (I lived) |
| Filmak ikusten ditut (I watch) | Filmak ikusten nituen (I used to watch) |
| Egunero joaten naiz (I go) | Egunero joaten nintzen (I used to go) |
The main verb is in its habitual form (-tzen / -ten — the same one from A1) and the auxiliary is in the past (the forms from lessons 1 and 2).
Conjugation with the NOR auxiliary (intransitives)
| Pronoun | Imperfect | English |
|---|---|---|
| ni | …tzen nintzen | I was going/was/lived |
| zu | …tzen zinen | you were going |
| hura | …tzen zen | he/she was going/was |
| gu | …tzen ginen | we were going/were |
| zuek | …tzen zineten | you (pl.) were going |
| haiek | …tzen ziren | they were going |
Garai hartan Donostian bizi nintzen. — At that time, I lived in San Sebastián.
Conjugation with the NOR-NORK auxiliary (transitives)
| Pronoun | Imperfect | English |
|---|---|---|
| nik | …tzen nuen | I was doing it |
| zuk | …tzen zenuen | you were doing it |
| hark | …tzen zuen | he/she was doing it |
| guk | …tzen genuen | we were doing it |
| zuek | …tzen zenuten | you (pl.) were doing it |
| haiek | …tzen zuten | they were doing it |
Aitak afari berezia prestatzen zuen igandero. — The father used to prepare a special dinner every Sunday.
Burutua vs ez burutua: the key opposition
| Type | Form | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Burutua (completed) | participle + past auxiliary | specific, completed event |
| Ez burutua (imperfect) | -tzen + past auxiliary | habit or ongoing action |
Compare:
| English | Basque |
|---|---|
| Yesterday I went to work | Atzo lanera joan nintzen |
| Before, I used to go to work by bike | Lehen lanera bizikletaz joaten nintzen |
| I saw a movie on Saturday | Larunbatean film bat ikusi nuen |
| I used to watch movies every Saturday | Larunbatero filmak ikusten nituen |
Progressive aspect: ari nintzen
To say “I was doing,” you use the periphrasis with ari:
-tzen + ari + izan in the past (NOR)
| English | Basque |
|---|---|
| I was eating | Jaten ari nintzen |
| We were working | Lanean ari ginen |
| It was raining | Euria ari zuen |
| What were you doing? | Zer ari zinen egiten? |
Just like ari naiz in the present, it’s ari nintzen in the past. It’s used to indicate that the action was in progress at a specific moment.
Markers that call for the imperfect
These markers push the sentence towards the imperfect/habitual:
| English | Basque |
|---|---|
| As a child | Txikitan |
| When I was young | Gaztea nintzenean |
| At that time | Garai hartan |
| Before / in the old days | Lehen / Lehenago |
| Always | Beti |
| Every day | Egunero |
| Often | Sarri / Askotan |
Comparative mini-text
Burutua: Atzo Iratiren etxera joan nintzen, kafea hartu nuen, eta hamabietan itzuli nintzen. — Yesterday I went to Irati’s house, had a coffee, and came back at twelve.
Ez burutua: Lehen Iratiren etxera joaten nintzen astero. Han kafea hartzen genuen eta luze hitz egiten genuen. — Before, I used to go to Irati’s house every week. There we would have coffee and talk for a long time.
Progresivoa: Atzo, kafea hartzen ari ginela, telefonoa jo zuen. — Yesterday, while we were having coffee, the phone rang.
Common pitfalls
- Regular verb + -tzen works almost always. Be careful: jan → jaten (not jantzen), edan → edaten, egin → egiten. These are memorized in A1.
- Don’t literally translate “was being”: in Basque, the imperfect covers many uses of the descriptive past, without needing to add ari.
- The auxiliary is the same as with the participle (nintzen, nuen); the only thing that changes is the form of the main verb.
Practical summary: if the sentence answers “what happened?” → participle + auxiliary (burutua). If it answers “what did you used to do?” or “what was it like?” → -tzen + past auxiliary (ez burutua). If it answers “what were you doing at that moment?” → -tzen ari + izan past (puntukaria).
Ejercicios
"Lan egiten nuen Bilbon" means…
What's the difference between "irakurri nuen" and "irakurtzen nuen"?
As a child, I used to play soccer = Txikitan futbolean nuen.
I was eating when he/she arrived = Jaten ari etorri zenean.