For an English speaker, one of the trickier things about Euskara is the verb for “to be.” Like in Spanish, there are two verbs that, in English, we would use to express “to be” – izan and egon. Interestingly, this only occurs in Hegoalde – in Iparralde, they only have one. To first order, izan is like Spanish ser and egon is like estar, but they aren’t fully interchangeable.

- At least to first order, the Basque verb izan is the same as the Spanish ser, while Basque egon is like Spanish estar. There are many places on the internet that say they are completely equivalent, though I have to think there are some differences… does anyone have an example?
- izan is the more permanent form of “to be,” describing enduring properties of things. izan is also used to denote possession and time. izan can describe if something exists: “There are two train stations.”
- One example where in Basque izan is used but in Spanish it would be estar is a situation that has never happened. “I have never been in your house” would use izan in Basque but estar in Spanish.
- egon is more transitory, used to describe situations or characteristics that are in flux or could change. For example, describing where you are or what emotional state you are in would be done with egon. egon can also be used to describe if something exists: “There is no wine” would use egon. When to use izan or egon can become confusing fairly quickly.
- One place where Basque diverges from Spanish is in dynamic phrasing. A phrase like “I am eating” in Spanish would use estar – “Estoy comiendo” – while in Basque it would use izan – “Jaten ari naiz.”
- In some dialects of Euskara, particularly in the north, there is only one verb for “to be” – izan. egon does exist, but it has a more precise meaning of “to stay.”
A full list of all of Buber’s Basque Facts of the Week can be found in the Archive.
Primary sources: izan, Wiktionary