Sentimenduak eta loturak — feelings and connectors
This lesson integrates two very productive A2 blocks:
- Feelings and moods (you know the basics from A1; here you’ll expand on them).
- Discourse connectors to argue and add nuance: gainera, hala ere, beraz, alde batetik…
With this, you’ll close the unit and gain tools for more elaborate opinions.
Feelings: the formula with egon + state
Most temporary feelings go with egon + adjective or adverb indicating a state:
| English | Basque |
|---|---|
| Happy | Pozik nago |
| Sad | Triste nago |
| Angry | Haserre nago |
| Nervous | Urduri nago |
| Calm | Lasai nago |
| Bored | Aspertuta nago |
| Tired | Nekatuta nago |
| Ashamed | Lotsatuta nago |
| In love | Maitemindurik nago |
It’s the same pattern from A1 (pozik, triste, lasai) expanded with aspertuta, nekatuta, lotsatuta, maitemindurik.
Feelings with izan: beldur naiz
Some deep feelings go with izan:
| English | Basque |
|---|---|
| I’m afraid | Beldur naiz |
| You’re right | Arrazoia duzu |
| I’m curious | Jakin-mina dut |
| I feel like it | Gogoa dut / Gogoz nago |
| I don’t feel like it | Gogorik ez dut |
Beldur naiz autoz joateko. — I’m afraid to go by car.
Feelings with NOR-NORI: lotsa ematen dit
A very Basque formula: the feeling “gives you”:
| English | Basque |
|---|---|
| I’m embarrassed | Lotsa ematen dit |
| It makes me sad | Pena ematen dit |
| It makes me angry | Amorrua ematen dit |
| It scares me | Beldurra ematen dit |
Hori esateak lotsa ematen dit. — I’m embarrassed to say that.
Albiste horrek pena handia ematen dit. — That news makes me very sad.
Jartzen naiz / jarri naiz
To express a change of state (“to get nervous, happy, sad”):
| English | Basque |
|---|---|
| I get nervous | Urduri jartzen naiz |
| He/She got sad | Triste jarri zen |
| We got happy | Pozik jarri ginen |
| He/She gets angry over nothing | Edozergatik haserretzen da |
Frequent psychological verbs
| Verb | Meaning |
|---|---|
| gustatu | to like |
| maite izan | to love |
| gorrotatu / higuindu | to hate |
| beldurtu | to get scared |
| aspertu | to get bored |
| haserretu | to get angry |
| lasaitu | to calm down |
| poztu | to become happy |
| triste jarri / atsekabetu | to become sad |
| kezkatu | to worry |
Asko maite ditut nire gurasoak. — I love my parents very much.
Ez kezkatu, dena ondo aterako da. — Don’t worry, everything will be fine.
Discourse connectors
To string together opinions and arguments:
Addition
| English | Basque |
|---|---|
| Besides | gainera |
| And also | eta baita ere / …ere |
| Especially | batez ere |
Gainera, prezioa ere ona da. — Besides, the price is also good.
Cause / consequence
| English | Basque |
|---|---|
| Therefore | beraz |
| That’s why | horregatik |
| For that reason | arrazoi horregatik |
Berandu da; beraz, joango naiz. — It’s late; therefore, I’m leaving.
Contrast / opposition
| English | Basque |
|---|---|
| However | hala ere |
| But | baina |
| On the other hand | bestetik |
| Instead | aldiz / berriz |
Berandu da; hala ere, etorriko naiz. — It’s late; however, I’ll come.
Organizing discourse
| English | Basque |
|---|---|
| On the one hand… on the other | Alde batetik… bestetik… |
| First… then… | Lehenengo… gero… |
| Finally | Azkenik |
| In summary | Laburbilduz |
A2 coordinated structures
These are constructions that appear in any A2 exam:
| English | Basque |
|---|---|
| Neither… nor… | Ez… ez… |
| Both… and… | Bai… bai… / Hala… nola… |
| Not only… but also… | Ez bakarrik…, baita ere… |
| …as well (included) | …ere bai |
Ez Anboto, ez Olatz ez dira etorri. — Neither Anboto nor Olatz have come.
Bai goizean, bai arratsaldean, lan egin behar dut. — I have to work both in the morning and in the afternoon.
Mini-text opinion
Niretzat garrantzitsua da gauean ondo lo egitea. Alde batetik, lasaitu egiten gara. Bestetik, hurrengo egunean indartsuago gaude. Gainera, osasunarentzat ezinbestekoa da: zazpi-zortzi ordu lo egiten ez baditugu, gaixotzeko probabilitate handiagoa dugu. Hala ere, ez da beti erraza izaten: askotan ezin dut lo hartu kezkatuta nagoelako. Beraz, lo egiten lagunduko didan errutina bat behar dut.
A2 Tip: the “opinion skeleton”
When you’re asked to give an opinion in A2, follow this template:
1. Nire ustez + topic + -(e)la.
2. Alde batetik, + reason1 + -lako.
3. Bestetik, + reason2.
4. Hala ere, + nuance.
5. Beraz, + conclusion.
With that, you can build a complete A2 paragraph.
Cultural note: many official A2 texts (letter to the editor, forum, exam essay) ask for this argumentative structure. Practice it with everyday topics: sports, food, social media, work, town festivals.
Ejercicios
"Beldur naiz" means…
"Hala ere, etorriko naiz" means…
I'm nervous about the exam = Azterketagatik urduri .