Who does and what is done: -tzaile and -keta
Basque makes words for jobs out of verbs, the way a joiner makes shelves out of boards. The verb stem plus -tzaile/-zaile is the one who does it: saldu — to sell, saltzaile — a seller. Short stems shrink: idatzi gives idazle — a writer, and erosle — a buyer. For example: “Saltzailea dendan dago” — The seller is at the shop. A rule from the Basque course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
Basque makes words for jobs out of verbs, the way a joiner makes shelves out of boards. The verb stem plus -tzaile/-zaile is the one who does it: saldu — to sell, saltzaile — a seller. Short stems shrink: idatzi gives idazle — a writer, and erosle — a buyer.
The action itself, turned into a thing, takes -keta: berotu — to warm, beroketa — a warm-up. The pair covers half the words for work: who does it on -tzaile, what is done on -keta.
Table
| the meaning | the form | the example |
|---|---|---|
| the doer | stem + -tzaile/-zaile/-le | eraiki → eraikitzaile |
| a short stem | stem + -le | idatzi → idazle |
| an action as a thing | stem + -keta | berotu → beroketa |
By example
- Saltzailea dendan dagoThe seller is at the shop
- Eroslea ogia hartzen duThe buyer takes the bread
- Entrenamenduaren aurretik beroketa egin behar daBefore the workout a warm-up must be done
How the rule settles in your head
A rule is not memorized from an explanation. It is memorized from an attempt to use it and a mistake — that is why the app delivers it mixed in with words, not as a separate lesson: it resurfaces exactly where you forgot it.
Frequently asked
Who does and what is done: how does it work in Basque?
Basque makes words for jobs out of verbs, the way a joiner makes shelves out of boards. The verb stem plus -tzaile/-zaile is the one who does it: saldu — to sell, saltzaile — a seller. Short stems shrink: idatzi gives idazle — a writer, and erosle — a buyer.
What does it look like in an example sentence Basque?
“Saltzailea dendan dago” — The seller is at the shop. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.