Verbs in Basque
53 words Basque words on the topic “verbs”: naiz — I am, nahi dut — I want, joan — go, jan — eat.
53 words on the topic
- naizI amThe 'I am' of izan — being by essence: origin, profession, character. Errusiarra naiz, medikua naiz. For state and place there is the second verb, egon: ondo nago, etxean nago
- nahi dutI wantLiterally 'want-it-I-have': desire goes through the auxiliary verb. To soften it, nahi nuke — 'I would like'
- joangoThe most irregular verb in Basque: noa (I go), zoaz, doa, goaz — nothing of the root is left. It covers both walking and riding
- janeatFood is janari — same root. Having lunch is bazkaldu: lunch has a name of its own, bazkaria
- edandrinkDrinking, the literal sense. Zer edozer hartuko al dugu? — 'shall we have something?': the soft invitation goes through hartu — 'take'
- irakurrireadA reader is irakurle, a newspaper is egunkaria — literally 'dayly'. Reading on the metro is the national sport
- hitz eginspeakLiterally 'to make a word'. Basque builds whole verb classes this way: lan egin — work, lo egin — sleep, barka egin — forgive
- lan eginwork (verb)Literally 'to make work': a noun plus egin — and the verb is ready. Working on something: ...tan lan egin
- biziliveBizi naiz — I live. Bizitza is both 'life' and 'living': Bilbon bizi da — he lives in Bilbao, zaila da bizitzea — living is hard
- duthaveBasque has no verb 'to have': what you have is put before dut — 'I-it-have'. Age, hunger and cold go through it too: hogeita hamar urte ditut, gosea dut, hotza dut
- dagothere is (located)The impersonal 'is located': it doesn't change by person. Plural: daude — ura dago, bi kafe daude. Also the one in non dago? — 'where is?'
- gustatzen zaitI like itThe verb agrees with the thing liked, not the liker: kafea gustatzen zait, but liburuak gustatzen zaizkit. Built on the same logic as Spanish gustar
- ikasilearnLearning it yourself is ikasi; teaching someone else is irakatsi — the split English makes with learn and teach. A student is ikasle, school is eskola
- hartutakeA native word: hartu covers take and receive alike. You've seen eguzkia hartu — 'take the sun': even rest is 'taken'
- emangiveA native word: give and hand over. The receiver takes the -ri dative: eman didate — they gave (to) me. Present: ematen dut
- erosibuyA native word: erosi. Present: erositen dut; what you bought drops its article: ogia erosi dut — I bought bread
- ordaindupayA native word: pay, and answer-with-what. Zer ordaintzen duzu? — what are you paying with? Present: ordaintzen dut, the d tightens
- jarriput downThe same word as 'put up' — context splits them: here it's lowering a thing into place. Present: jartzen dut
- bilatulook forA native word. Partner of aurkitu — 'find' (next word): looked and found — bilatu eta aurkitu
- aurkitufindA native word, literally 'bring before the eye'. To the finder they say: aurkitu duzu! — you found it!
- erakutsishowLiterally 'carry out (into the open)'. Whoever is shown to takes the dative: erakutsi didate — they showed (to) me
- nahiwant (noun sense)A native word: desire. The auxiliary stays plain: nahi dut — I want; what you want goes before it: kafea nahi dut
- ahal izanbe able toThe same pairing as 'manage to' — context splits them: here it's can in the present and in general. The workhorse form is -dezaket: egin dezaket — I can do it
- etorricomeA native word: come, arrive. Where from takes -tik: Madrildik etorri da — he came from Madrid. Partner of joan — 'go'
- joanleaveThe same word as 'go' — context splits them: leave here is 'away from here'. Joan behar dut — I have to leave
- hasistartA native word: to start, both doing and happening. Zer orduetan hasten da? — at what time does it start? Present: hasten da
- amaitufinishA native word: to finish, complete. Partner of hasi — 'start': hasi eta amaitu — beginning and end
- jarraitucontinueLiterally 'to walk in the tracks': jarraia — 'the succession'. Jarraitu, mesedez — please continue; on the road it means 'keep going'
- gelditustopThe same word as 'halt something' — context splits them: stop here is coming to a stand yourself. The bus gelditzen da — stops
- presaka ibilihurryLiterally 'to walk in haste': presa — 'haste' + -ka, manner. Hurrying here is walking in haste, not running
- berandutube lateFrom berandu — 'late' + -tu: to be late is 'to become late'. Barkatu, berandutu egin dut — sorry, I'm late
- garaiz iritsimake it on timeThe same pairing as 'manage to arrive' — context splits them: making it here is arriving on time every time. garaiz — 'on time' + iritsi — 'arrive'
- ateraturn outThe same word as 'come out' — context splits them: turn out here is what a result does: the bread comes out, the bill comes out
- sartuenterThe same word as 'get in (a car)' — context splits them: enter here is on foot, going inside. Where to takes -ra: gelan sartu naiz — I entered the room
- irtenexitA native word: to go out. Where from takes -tik: etxetik irten naiz — I came out of the house. Partner of sartu — 'enter'
- igoclimbThe same word as 'rise' — context splits them: climb here is with your legs, up stairs and uphill. A relative: igogailua — 'lift'
- jaitsidescendThe same word as 'go down / drop' — context splits them: descend here is the body going down. Partner of igo — 'climb'
- zeharkatuto go acrossLiterally 'to walk through': zehar — 'across'. Crossing here is cutting a street or a river at right angles
- inguratuto circle aroundThe same word as 'circle something' — context splits them: going around here is the usual motion about. From inguru — 'the district'
- itzulireturnA native word: to return (and also 'to translate', literally 'turn back'). Noiz itzuliko zara? — when will you be back?
- alde egindrive awayLiterally 'to make to the side': aldea — 'side' (this course). Leaving here is off the yard: lanetik alde egin dut — I left work
- hegan etorrifly inLiterally 'to come flying': hegan — 'in flight'. Flying in covers planes and wings alike
- hegan joanfly outLiterally 'to go flying': partner of hegan etorri. Where to takes -ra: Bilbaora hegan joango da — he'll fly to Bilbao
- esnatuwake upA native word. The morning begins with it: zazpietan esnatzen naiz — I wake up at seven
- altxatuget upThe same word as 'lift something' — context splits them: getting up here is lifting yourself out of bed. The family calls: altxatu! — get up!
- garbituwash upThe same word as 'wash (things)' — context splits them: washing up here is the face with water. Say what you wash: aurpegia garbitzen dut — I wash my face
- orraztucomb one's hairFrom orraz — 'comb': combing here is 'running the comb'. Ilea orraztu — to comb one's hair
- afaitatushaveA loan from Spanish afeitar, openly admitted. Shaving happens in front of the mirror, with a razor: ispiluaren aurrean
- janztuget dressedFrom jantzi — 'clothes' (this course): to get dressed is 'to clothe oneself in clothes'. Partner: jantziak kendu — 'to undress'
- jantziak kenduundressLiterally 'to take off the clothes': kendu — 'to take off, remove'. Undressing happens at home, by the door: etxean jantziak kendu
- eserisit downThe same word as 'sit' — context splits them: sitting down here is the move into the chair. Eser zaitez — have a seat
- oheratugo to bedFrom ohe — 'bed' (this course): to go to bed is 'to head for the bed'. Hamaiketan oheratzen naiz — I go to bed at eleven
- etzanlie downA native word: to lie, stretch out. Lying down here is a posture, not a task: sofian etzanda — lying on the sofa
How it sounds in a sentence
A word list is a blank. Conversation is made of sentences, and these are the ones the words fit into most often.
What is worth knowing about these words
naiz — I am. The 'I am' of izan — being by essence: origin, profession, character. Errusiarra naiz, medikua naiz. For state and place there is the second verb, egon: ondo nago, etxean nago
nahi dut — I want. Literally 'want-it-I-have': desire goes through the auxiliary verb. To soften it, nahi nuke — 'I would like'
joan — go. The most irregular verb in Basque: noa (I go), zoaz, doa, goaz — nothing of the root is left. It covers both walking and riding
jan — eat. Food is janari — same root. Having lunch is bazkaldu: lunch has a name of its own, bazkaria
Test yourself
Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than recognizing a familiar word — and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “I am” in Basque?
The 'I am' of izan — being by essence: origin, profession, character. Errusiarra naiz, medikua naiz. For state and place there is the second verb, egon: ondo nago, etxean nago
- How do you say “work (verb)” in Basque?
Literally 'to make work': a noun plus egin — and the verb is ready. Working on something: ...tan lan egin
- How do you say “give” in Basque?
A native word: give and hand over. The receiver takes the -ri dative: eman didate — they gave (to) me. Present: ematen dut
- How do you say “want (noun sense)” in Basque?
A native word: desire. The auxiliary stays plain: nahi dut — I want; what you want goes before it: kafea nahi dut
- How do you say “stop” in Basque?
The same word as 'halt something' — context splits them: stop here is coming to a stand yourself. The bus gelditzen da — stops
How to learn the set instead of just reading it
I want, I can, I am going, I know. Twenty verbs cover more everyday sentences than two hundred nouns.
A list is read in a minute and forgotten in a day. What works: hide the translation, try to recall, get it wrong — and come back to the same words tomorrow.
- Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
- This holds not only in experiments but in ordinary classrooms, with real students.checked many timesMawson & Kang, 2025, Behavioral Sciences 15(6):771 · 22 studies, d = 0.54 (confidence interval 0.31–0.77). The authors warn that individual studies disagree widely.
Frequently asked
How do you say “I am” in Basque?
«naiz». The 'I am' of izan — being by essence: origin, profession, character. Errusiarra naiz, medikua naiz. For state and place there is the second verb, egon: ondo nago, etxean nago. It is one of 53 words in the set “verbs” — the rest are in the table above.
How many verbs do you need to start?
A dozen is enough. The set of 53 words on this page covers nearly every everyday case on the topic — but it is best taken a few at a time, not all at once.