Endings Instead of Prepositions

Level 1

Where English puts a small word before the noun, Basque adds an ending after it: etxean (in the house), etxera (to the house).

How It Works

Endings for places. These answer where, where to and where from:

Endings for people and things.

  • -k the doer: lagunak (the friend, doing something). See the ergative case.
  • -(r)i to someone: lagunari. See to someone.
  • -(r)en whose: lagunaren. See whose.
  • -(r)ekin with: lagunarekin. See with.
  • -(r)entzat for: lagunarentzat. See for.
  • -z by what means, in which language: trenez, euskaraz. See by and in a language.

A letter in brackets appears only in some places. In -(r)en, the r comes after a vowel: Aneren but Mikelen.

One ending per phrase. Adjectives and bat come after the noun, and the ending goes on the very last word: etxe handian (in the big house), etxe handi batean (in a big house), nire lagun onarekin (with my good friend).

Place names and plurals. Place names take the ending without the article: Bilbon, Bilbora, Bilbotik. See place names and case endings. The plural has its own set: etxeetan (in the houses). See plural case endings.

People are not places. The place endings do not go straight onto a person. Use the -gan forms instead: Amarengana noa (I am going to my mother).

Examples (6)

  1. Etxean nago.

    I am at home.

    Word by Word: House-in I-am.

  2. Etxera noa.

    I am going home.

    Word by Word: House-to I-go.

  3. Etxetik nator.

    I am coming from home.

    Word by Word: House-from I-come.

  4. Lagunarekin bizi naiz.

    I live with my friend.

    Word by Word: The-friend-with living I-am.

  5. Etxe handi batean bizi gara.

    We live in a big house.

    Word by Word: House big a-in living we-are.

    The ending goes on bat, the last word of the phrase.

  6. Bilbotik trenez etorri naiz.

    I came from Bilbao by train.

    Word by Word: Bilbao-from train-by come I-am.

Common Mistakes

  • Putting the ending on every word of the phrase.

    Etxean handian bizi naiz.
    Etxe handian bizi naiz.

    The ending goes once, on the last word: etxe handian.

  • Putting a place ending straight onto a person.

    Nire amara noa.
    Nire amarengana noa.

    For people, use -gana (to), -gan (at) and -gandik (from) instead of -ra, -n and -tik.

How It Connects

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Endings Instead of PrepositionsLevel 1

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The case overview comes after the article.

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