1. GALDERA ETA EZEZKOA (Interrogatives and negatives)

1.1 GALDERA (the interrogative sentence)

In basque, one can make a question just by changing the intonation of the sentence when talking, and adding a question mark in writing.

Affirmative: "Hura nire kalea da" ("That is my street")
Question: "Hura nire kalea da?" ("Is that my street?")

In some places, we introduce the particle "al" before the verb:

"Hura nire kalea AL da?"

In other places, an "a" is added to the verb.

"Hura nire kalea deA?"

None of those particles are necessary, they are local variations.

BUT, and this is the trick, the focus of the sentence depends, generally speaking, on what goes *before* the verb, always, in interrogative sentences and affirmatives alike. There is NO mandatory order in the sentence, such as "subject+verb+complement". The focus is the rule, the order of the elements is quite indifferent.

Example:

"Gaur goizean, Elena eta biok sagarrak harrapatzen ibili gara markesaren baratzean" ("This morning, Elena and I have been stoling apples from the marquis' garden")

Just by changing the position of the verb, the meaning changes a lot:

"Gaur goizean IBILI GARA Elena eta biok sagarrak harrapatzen markesaren baratzean" (It was *this morning* that Elena and I...)

"Gaur goizean, Elena eta biok IBILI GARA sagarrak harrapatzen markesaren baratzean" ("It was *Elena and I* those who ...)

"Gaur goizean, Elena eta biok, sagarrak harrapatzen markesaren baratzean IBILI GARA" ( It was *in the marquis' garden* that...)

or

"Gaur goizean, Elena eta biok, markesaren baratzean IBILI GARA sagarrak harrapatzen ", which is more or less the same as the precedent sentence, I believe.

"BA" particle is used in questions of the kind of:

BAda kotxerik aparkaleku honetan? ("Is there any car in this parking lot?")

BAda euskaldunik Estatu Batuetan? ("Is there any basque in the US?")

1.2 EZEZKOA

"EZ" is the basque way to say "NO".

Negative sentences consist in the particle EZ *before* the auxiliary verb, then the main verb (EZ+aux.+verb):

"Biolentziak EZ du onik ekarri euskaldunontzat" ("Violence didn't bring any good for us, basques")

"Ni EZ naiz hemengoa" ("I'm not from here")

The focus of the sentence will go, generally speaking, between the auxiliary and main verbs:

"Markesaren alaba ez dago marineruarekin enamoratua" (The marquis' daughter is not in love with the seaman")

or

"Marineruarekin ez dago markesaren alaba enamoratua" (It is not the marquis' daughter who is in love with the seaman)

2. LEKUZKO KASUAK (cases having the meaning of "place")

        Indefinite    Singular   Plural

NON     -(e)tan       -(e)an     -etan      ("where")
NONGO   -(e)tako      -(e)ko     -etako     ("of")
NONDIK  -(e)tatik     -(e)tik    -etatik    ("from")
NORA    -(e)tara      -(e)ra     -etara     ("to")
NORAINO -(e)taraino   -(e)raino  -etaraino  ("up to")

-(e) is needed when the word ends in a consonant

Examples:

TeilatuETAN jotzen dute euskal bibolinistek ("Basque violinists play IN the roofs")
Zenbait balkoiTAN ez dago lorontzirik ("IN some balconies there are no flower vases")
SukaldeKO leihoak lurrinez betetzen dira neguan ("The windows OF the kitchen get full of vapor in winter")
SaharaTIK dator hegoaizea ("The southern wind comes FROM the Sahara")
EskailerETATIK behera jausi da postaria ("The postman felt in the stairs")
Aintzinean, euskaldunek AmerikETARA emigratu ohi zuten ("In the past, basques used to emigrate TO the Americas")
Bigarren pisuRAINO iritsi zen uholdea ("The flood went up to the second floor")

EXERCICES

(add the good suffix in the following sentences)

Harrizko zubi...... pasatu ziren Bartolo eta bere andregaia
Garaje...... atea zabalik gelditu zen atzo
Hainbat eliz....... zutabeak pitzatuta daude
Tximini....... sartuko da Olentzeroa gabonetan
Lehioertze...... ibiltzen ziren katagorriak
Kobazulo asko...... xaguzarrak egoten dira
Artizarra argitu da zeru......
Adreiluzko bloke...... bizi dira euskaldun gehienak
Haizeak balkoitik erauzitako arropak plaza...... iritsi ziren
Arbelezko zenbait teilatu...... txikizio ederra egin du kazkabarrak

(change the verb for the persons noted in the side)

Pobre GINEN eta kotxerik ez etxean. (zuek)
Kandelak piztuko DITUGU afaltzeko orduan (haiek)
Egongelan sartu GAITU sendagileak (zu)
Sutondoan lokartzen ZEN txakur zahar hura (ni)
Ez NAUTE harrapatuko berriro honelako bilera batetan (haiek-zu)
Egunkaria erosteko dirurik baDUZU? (zuek)
Non bizi ZINETEN etxe hau erosi baino lehenago? (haiek)
Zein auzotatik eraman ZAITU aitonak paseatzera? (nik)
Gezur handiak irakurtzen DITUGU Internet-en (haiek)
Eta honekin, bukatu DUGU gaurkoz (zuek)

VOCABULARY

Adreiluzko: made of brick [adreilu = brick, + zko]
alaba: daughter
afaltzeko (orduan): (at the time) of dinner
aintzinean: in the old times (aintzin+ean)
aitona: grandfather (also "aitita")
Ameriketara: to the Americas
andregaia: girlfriend
aparkaleku : parking
arbelezko: made of slate [arbel+zko]
argitu: to clear
arropak: clothes
Artizarra: the planet Venus
asko: many
ate: door
atzo: yesterday
auzo: neighborhood
baino (...+ago): than (comparative)
balkoi: balcony
baratz: vegetable garden
Bartolo: male name (abrev. of Bartholomew)
bat: one
behera: down
bere: his/her/its
berriro : again
bete: to fill
bibolinista: violinist
Bigarren : second (ordinal)
bilera : reunion
biok : both of us (...eta biok)
biolentzia: violence
bizi: to live
bloke : block
bukatu : to end
dago : to be (sense of place), [3rd person sing. of verb EGON]
dator : to come [3rd person sing. of verb ETORRI]
daude : to be (sense of place), [3rd person pl. of verb EGON]
dirurik : any money (diru= money+rik)
eder: nice
egin : to do
egongela: living room
egoten: habitual or progressive aspect of EGON
egunkari: newspaper
ekarri : to bring
Elena : Helen
eliza: church
emigratu : to emigrate
enamoratua: in love
eraman : to carry
erauzitako : tore out (erauzi+tako)
erosi : to buy
eskailera: stair
Estatu Batuak: United States
eta : and
etxe: house
euskal: basque (adjective)
euskaldun : basque (the one who speaks basque)
ez: no
gabon: night; Christmas
garaje: garage
gaur : today
gaurkoz: for today (gaur+koz)
gehienak : most of...; the majority
gelditu : to stop
gezur : lie
goiz: morning; early
hainbat : many
haize: wind
handi: big, great
harrapatu: to catch
harrizko : made of stone (harri+zko)
hau : this
hegoaizea: the wind from the south (hego+haize)
hemengo: from here (hemen+go)
honekin: with this
honelako : like this
honetan: in this
ibili : to walk; to be doing ...
irakurtzen: habitual or progressive aspect of IRAKURRI (to read)
iritsi : to reach; to arrive
jausi: to fall
jotzen: habitual or progressive aspect of JO ( to hit)
kale: street
kandela: candle
katagorri: squirrel
kazkabar: hail
kobazulo: cavern
kotxe: automobil
lehenago : before
lehioertze : the edge of the window
leiho: window
lokartzen: habitual or progressive aspect of LOKARTU (to fall sleep)
lorontzi: vase (of flowers)
lurrinez : of vapor (lurrin+ez)
markes: marquis
marineruarekin : with the seaman (manineru: seaman+arekin)
negu: winter
nire: my (zure: your; gure: our; etc.)
non: where
ohi : "to be accustomed to" (frequentative particle)
---> goiz etorri ohi da: she/he usually comes early Olentzero: a kind of basque Santa Claus, impersonating a coalman.
on: good
orduan: at the time (ordu=time+-an)
pasatu : to pass
paseatzera: to take a walk
pisuraino: up to the floor (pisu=floor+-raino)
pitzatu= to brake
piztu: to light; to ignite
plaza: square, plaza
pobre : poor
postari: postman
sagar: apple
Saharatik: from the Sahara
sartu : to enter
sendagile: physician
Sukaldeko: of the kitchen (sukalde=kitchen+-ko)
Sutondo: fireplace
teilatu : roof
txakur : dog
txikizio : destruction
tximini: chimney
uholde: flood
xaguzar: bat
zabalik : open
zahar : old
zein: which
zenbait: some
zeru : sky; heaven
zubi: bridge
zutabe: pillar

Exercises will be corrected in the next lesson. You may ask questions on the newsgroup, but we can't garantee any answer. Maybe others can also help you. If you have any suggestions, please write us to We are not linguists, please be kind with our ignorance.

Thanks,

Maria S. Santisteban

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