NOR-NORI-NORK past — I told him, he gave it to me

The NOR-NORI-NORK past tense follows the same logic as the present, but with past tense markers (the endings in -n and the changing initial letter).

The formula

partizipioa + n-i-NORI-NORK + n (at the end)

Compared to the present tense, what changes is:

The initial d- becomes n- or z- (just like dut → nuen).
A final -n appears (the classic past tense marker).

The most useful forms for A2

Past tense table, singular NOR (“it”):

NORI ↓ / NORK →	nik	zuk	hark	guk	zuek	haiek
niri	—	zenidan	zidan	—	zenidaten	zidaten
zuri	nizun	—	zizun	genizun	—	zizuten
hari	nion	zenion	zion	genion	zenioten	zioten
guri	—	zenigun	zigun	—	zeniguten	ziguten
zuei	nizuen	—	zizuen	genizuen	—	zizueten
haiei	nien	zenien	zien	genien	zenieten	zieten

The four cells you’ll use most at A2 level: nion (I… to him/her), zion (he/she… to him/her), nizun (I… to you), zidan (he/she… to me). The others are built from these.

Mnemonic tip

Compare present and past:

Present	Past	English
dizut	nizun	I… it to you
diot	nion	I… it to him/her
dit	zidan	he/she… it to me
dio	zion	he/she… it to him/her
digu	zigun	he/she… it to us
digute	ziguten	they… it to us

Pattern: the initial letter changes (d → n/z), the NORI infix stays similar, and you add -n at the end.

Agreement with plural NOR

Singular object	Plural object	English
nion	nizkion	I… it to him/her / I… them to him/her
zion	zizkion	he/she… it to him/her / he/she… them to him/her
zidan	zizkidan	he/she… it to me / he/she… them to me
genion	genizkion	we… it to him/her / we… them to him/her

Aitak liburu bi eman zizkidan atzo. — My father gave me two books yesterday.

Examples in context

English	Basque
I told you last week	Esan nizun* joan den astean*
I gave him/her the keys	Giltzak eman nizkion
My grandmother gave it to me as a gift	Amonak oparitu zidan
The teacher showed it to us	Irakasleak erakutsi zigun
I wrote them a letter	Eskutitz bat idatzi nien
Why didn’t you tell me?	Zergatik ez zenidan* esan?*

Special verbs with NOR-NORI-NORK past

Some everyday verbs almost always use NOR-NORI-NORK:

Esan zion — he/she told him/her
Eman zidan — he/she gave me
Galdetu zion — he/she asked him/her
Erantzun nion — I answered him/her
Ekarri ziguten — they brought us
Erosi nion — I bought for him/her

Mini-narrative

Atzo Garazi etorri zen etxera. Ate ondoan zegoela, eman zidan opari bat: kafe-poltsatxo eder bat. Esan zidan Bilbon erosi zuela, kafetegi berezi batean. Eskerrak eman nizkion eta laster prestatu nion kafe bat berari ere. Lasai-lasai kontatu zidan azken aldian Donostian zegoela bizitzen.

Mixing with NOR and NOR-NORK

An A2 narrative mixes the three patterns:

Phrase	Type
Etorri zen	NOR past
Eman zidan	NOR-NORI-NORK past
Esan zidan	NOR-NORI-NORK past
Erosi zuen	NOR-NORK past
Kontatu zidan	NOR-NORI-NORK past

Tip: if the sentence answers “what did he/she do?” → NOR-NORK (dut/nuen). If it answers “what did he/she do to whom?” → NOR-NORI-NORK (diot/nion). If it answers “what happened to him/her?” without a direct object → NOR (naiz/nintzen).

Common pitfalls

Distinguish zion (he/she gave him/her, past) from zen (was, past). They sound similar; the context and the presence of an object + recipient will help you.
Negation uses ez before the verb: Ez nion ezer esan (I didn’t tell him/her anything). With a negated object, -rik appears: Ez nion libururik eman.
To speak at an A2 level, you just need nion, zion, zidan, nizun. The other forms can be recognized when reading.

Pedagogical note: the NOR-NORI-NORK past tense table is dense, but its payoff is huge: it opens up narration with three arguments, which is very common in any story. If you memorize just one model verb (for example eman), the other forms are copied from it.