jakin: dakit / dakizu / daki

Knowing (Dakit, Dakizu, Daki)

Level 1

Ez dakit. (I don’t know.) Badakit. (I know.) Anek ez daki. (Ane doesn’t know.)

How It Works

The forms

  • nik dakit: I know
  • zuk dakizu: you know
  • hark daki: he or she knows
  • guk dakigu: we know
  • zuek dakizue: you all know
  • haiek dakite: they know

When the thing you know is plural, a longer form is used: Erantzunak dakizkit. (I know the answers.)

Saying yes and no
In everyday standard Basque, a plain statement does not start with dakit alone. Add ba- or put what you know first: Badakit. (I know.) Hori dakit. (I know that.) With ez, say Ez dakit. (I don’t know.)

Knowing a language
Put the language in -z: Euskaraz badakizu? (Do you speak Basque?) Ingelesez badakit. (I speak English.)

Knowing how to do something
Use a verb in its -tzen form: Ez dakit gidatzen. (I don’t know how to drive.) See Knowing How To.

Knowing that something is true
Later you will join a whole sentence to jakin with -(e)la: Badakit etorriko dela. (I know that he will come.)

Examples (6)

  1. Ez dakit.

    I don’t know.

    The most common use of jakin.

  2. Badakit.

    I know.

    ba- lets dakit stand at the start of a statement.

  3. Anek ez daki.

    Ane doesn’t know.

    Ane takes -k because jakin has a knower and something known.

  4. Euskaraz badakizu?

    Do you speak Basque?

    Literally “Do you know in Basque?”; the language takes -z.

  5. Guk erantzuna badakigu.

    We know the answer.

    guk is the ergative form of gu.

  6. Haiek ez dakite gidatzen.

    They don’t know how to drive.

    With a -tzen verb, jakin means “know how to”.

Common Mistakes

  • Leaving out the ergative -k.

    Ni ez dakit.
    Nik ez dakit.

    In standard Basque, jakin has someone who knows and something known, so the knower takes -k: nik, zuk, hark, Anek. You may hear ni ez dakit in casual speech, but the standard form is nik.

  • Starting a plain statement with dakit.

    Dakit.
    Badakit.

    In everyday standard Basque, a one-word verb does not open a statement by itself. Say Badakit, or put something first: Hori dakit.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

jakin: dakit / dakizu / dakiLevel 1Knowing (Dakit, Dakizu, Daki)

Learn This First

jakin follows ukan.

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Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

jakin