NOR-NORI verbs — to like, to seem, to forget

NOR-NORI verbs are those where something (NOR) “happens to someone” (NORI). The grammatical subject is the thing, not the person — exactly like gustar in Spanish: me gusta el cine (to me, the cinema is pleasing).

In A1 you already saw gustatzen zait. In A2 you’ll expand this pattern to other very useful verbs.

Present tense forms of the NOR-NORI auxiliary

For singular NOR:

NORI	Form	English
niri	zait	me
zuri	zaizu	you (sg.)
hari	zaio	him/her
guri	zaigu	us
zuei	zaizue	you (pl.)
haiei	zaie	them

For plural NOR:

NORI	Plural form	English
niri	zaizkit	me (things)
zuri	zaizkizu	you (sg.)
hari	zaizkio	him/her
guri	zaizkigu	us
zuei	zaizkizue	you (pl.)
haiei	zaizkie	them

Past tense: zitzaidan, zitzaion

NORI	Past sg.	Past pl.
niri	zitzaidan	zitzaizkidan
zuri	zitzaizun	zitzaizkizun
hari	zitzaion	zitzaizkion
guri	zitzaigun	zitzaizkigun
haiei	zitzaien	zitzaizkien

Verbs with this pattern

Verb	Meaning	Example
gustatu	to like	Filmak gustatzen zaizkit (I like the movies)
iruditu	to seem	Ondo iruditzen zait (it seems fine to me)
ahaztu	to be forgotten	Ahaztu zait izena (I’ve forgotten the name)
erori	to fall	Erori zaizu boligrafoa (you’ve dropped the pen)
gertatu	to happen to	Zer gertatu zaizu? (what happened to you?)
interesatu	to interest	Politika interesatzen zait (I’m interested in politics)
axola izan	to matter	Ez zait axola (I don’t care)

Structure: the subject is the thing

NORI + NOR + verb + NOR-NORI auxiliary

English	Basque	Notation
I like the cinema	Niri zinea gustatzen zait	NORI + NOR sing + zait
I like the movies	Niri filmak gustatzen zaizkit	NORI + NOR pl + zaizkit
It seems fine to you	Zuri ondo iruditzen zaizu	NORI + NOR + zaizu
He/She has dropped a book	Hari liburu bat erori zaio	NORI + NOR sing + zaio
I have forgotten the keys	Niri giltzak ahaztu zaizkit	NORI + NOR pl + zaizkit

Tip: the affected person is in the NORI case (-ari/-ei) and usually appears at the beginning. The thing is the grammatical subject, and the verb agrees with it.

Gustatzen zait in the past tense — gustatu zitzaidan

To talk about likes in the past:

Filma asko gustatu zitzaidan. — I liked the movie a lot.

Ez zitzaion gustatu opari hori. — He/She didn’t like that gift.

Careful: gustatu zitzaidan (= I liked it, a completed action) vs gustatzen zitzaidan (= I used to like it, a habit).

Iruditu (to seem) — personal opinion

One of the most useful formulas for A2:

English	Basque
It seems fine to me	Ondo iruditzen zait
It seems interesting to me	Interesgarria iruditzen zait
What do you think?	Zer iruditzen zaizu?
It seems strange to me	Bitxia iruditzen zait
I think so	Baietz iruditzen zait

Ahaztu zait — I’ve forgotten

English	Basque
I’ve forgotten	Ahaztu zait
I’ve forgotten the keys	Giltzak ahaztu zaizkit
He/She forgets everything	Dena ahazten zaio
Don’t you forget!	Ez zaizula ahaztu!

Mini-dialogue

— Olatz, zer iruditzen zaizu Bilboko jatetxe berria?

— Asko gustatu zait. Bereziki bigarren platerak: interesgarriak iruditu zaizkit.

— Eta, jakin nahi nuen, ahaztu zaizu zer eskatu zenuen?

— Bai, izenak ez zaizkit gogoratzen, baina arraina zen, ziur.

Common pitfalls

1. The ergative subject does NOT exist here. Don’t say *Nik gustatzen dut (it’s a very common mistake): it’s Niri gustatzen zait. The person is not the one performing the action.
2. NOR agreement. If the thing is plural, the auxiliary is plural: zaizkit, zaizkio, zaizkigu…
3. Some regions use other variants (zaidak, zaidan in hitano), but in standard Basque (batua), the standard forms are the ones in the table.

Cultural note: Basque speakers often overuse (affectionately) iruditzen zait to express opinions with a certain caution: interesgarria iruditzen zait, bitxia iruditzen zait, ez zait ondo iruditzen. It’s the Basque version of a nuanced “it seems to me that…”.