Ohiturak eta planak — "ohi" and the three tenses together

Last lesson of the unit — and the end of a huge cycle: with the future tense in the bag, you master the three tenses. This lesson adds the finishing touch (ohi, the Basque equivalent of “to usually do”) and has you move the same idea through the past, present-habit, and future. This is exactly what an A2 panel wants to hear.

”Ohi” — the Basque ‘to usually do’

participle + ohi + auxiliary

Spanish	Basque
I usually go to work by bike	Lanera bizikletaz joan ohi naiz
We usually eat at grandma’s	Amonaren etxean bazkaldu ohi dugu
He/She usually comes late	Berandu etorri ohi da
I used to smoke (not anymore)	Erre ohi nuen

Two notes:

1. The position is fixed: between the participle and the auxiliary. Joan ohi naiz ✓ — never ohi joan naiz.
2. With the auxiliary in the past tense, you get “used to”: joan ohi nintzen (I used to go). It’s a close cousin of the imperfect you already know (joaten nintzen) — ohi emphasizes the habit.

And without “ohi”? The habitual present (joaten naiz) already expresses a habit. Ohi is an elegant reinforcement, common in written texts and exams. Use it when you want to sound polished: Igandeetan hondartzara joan ohi gara.

Adverbs that accompany habits

English	Basque
Normally	normalean
Most of the time	gehienetan
Almost always	ia beti
Sometimes	batzuetan
Almost never	ia inoiz ez
Every morning / every year	goizero / urtero
On Sundays	igandeetan

The complete map of tenses (your definitive cheat sheet)

Idea	Basque	Tense
I go (habit)	joaten naiz / joan ohi naiz	habitual present
I am going	joaten ari naiz	present continuous
I have gone (today)	joan naiz	recent past
I went (one day)	joan nintzen	simple past
I used to go	joaten nintzen / joan ohi nintzen	habitual past
I will go	joango naiz	future

Six boxes. One single verb. All yours.

Mini-text: before, now, and tomorrow

Lehen, lanera autoz joan ohi nintzen: ordu erdi trafikoan, egunero. Orain bizikletaz joaten naiz — hamar minutu, eta gainera kirola egiten dut. Datorren urtean etxetik gertuago biziko naiz, eta orduan oinez joango naiz. Nire medikua pozik egongo da! 😄

Review dialogue (the three tenses in action)

— Zer egin ohi duzu igandeetan?

— Normalean berandu jaiki eta familiarekin bazkaldu ohi dut. Baina datorren igandean ezberdina izango da: Behobia-Donostia lasterketa korrituko dut!

— Ederki! Entrenatu ohi zara?

— Bai, gaztetan asko korritzen nuen, gero utzi egin nion… eta aurten berriro hasi naiz. Bihar azken entrenamendua egingo dut.

— Ba, zorte on! Helmugan egongo naiz, animatzen. 💪