Geroaldia — the future in Basque

Until now, you knew how to talk about the present and the past. This unit opens the third door: the future (geroaldia). The good news: if you already master the participles (and you’ve mastered them since A1!), the future is almost a gift — it’s built on the participle, with no new auxiliary forms.

The formula

participle + -ko / -go + auxiliary in the PRESENT

Spanish	Basque	How it’s formed
I will go	joango naiz	joan + -go + naiz
I will eat	jango dut	jan + -go + dut
I will buy	erosiko dut	erosi + -ko + dut
We will see it	ikusiko dugu	ikusi + -ko + dugu
He/she/it will arrive	helduko da	heldu + -ko + da

The auxiliary doesn’t change: it’s the same naiz/da/dut/dugu… as always. The only new thing is the suffix on the participle.

-ko or -go? The only rule you need to memorize

Participle ends in…	Suffix	Examples
-n	-go (the n is kept)	joan → joango · egin → egingo · esan → esango · eman → emango · edan → edango · jan → jango
vowel or consonant (everything else)	-ko	erosi → erosiko · hartu → hartuko · ikusi → ikusiko · bukatu → bukatuko · heldu → helduko

Dialect note: in Navarre and Iparralde you’ll hear eginen, joanen (-en instead of -go). This is correct in those dialects; in the standard Basque used in this course, we use -go.

The big three: izan, ukan, egon

Present	Future	Example
naiz (I am)	izango naiz	Irakasle izango naiz. — I will be a teacher.
dut (I have)	izango dut	Denbora izango dut. — I will have time.
nago (I am [located])	egongo naiz	Etxean egongo naiz. — I will be at home.

Notice: izan is used for both to be and to have — the auxiliary distinguishes them (izango naiz / izango dut).

Examples in context

Bihar goizean kirola egingo dut, eta gero lagunekin bazkalduko dut. — Tomorrow morning I will do sport, and then I will have lunch with friends.

Datorren astean amona ikusiko dugu. — Next week we will see grandma.

Ez kezkatu, garaiz helduko gara. — Don’t worry, we will arrive on time.

Noiz esango diozu egia? — When will you tell him/her the truth?

Dialogue

— Zer egingo duzu gaur arratsaldean?

— Lehenengo etxeko lanak bukatuko ditut, eta gero zinemara joango naiz. Etorri nahi?

— Ezin dut, bihar azterketa daukat. Etxean geratuko naiz ikasten.

— Lasai, hurrengoan joango gara elkarrekin.

Study tip

The Basque future is like the “going to + verb” construction in English in one sense: you don’t need to learn new conjugations, just the -ko/-go piece. If you’re in doubt, think of the participle (which you already know from the past tense: erosi dut = I have bought it) and attach the suffix: erosiko dut.