-tzen + jakin

Knowing How to

Level 2

-tzen + jakin means know how to: Igeri egiten badakit (I know how to swim). Gidatzen badakizu? (Do you know how to drive?)

How It Works

The pattern. Put the skill in the -tzen form and add dakit, dakizu, daki:

  • Igeri egiten badakit. (I know how to swim.)
  • Amonak euskaraz idazten badaki. (Grandma knows how to write in Basque.)

ba- or not? In a plain yes statement, jakin takes the affirmative ba-: badakit, badaki. Leave ba- off when a question word, or the new information you want to stress, comes right before the verb: Nork daki gitarra jotzen? (Who knows how to play the guitar?) Zer dakizu egiten? Igeri egiten dakit. (What can you do? I know how to swim.)

Negative. ez dakit comes first and the -tzen form follows: Ez dakit sukaldatzen (I do not know how to cook).

Know how, or can? jakin is about a skill you have learned. ahal and ezin are about whether you are able to in a situation: Gidatzen badakit, baina gaur ezin dut gidatu (I know how to drive, but I cannot drive today).

Past. For knew how to, use the past of jakin, nekien, zekien: see nekien.

Examples (6)

  1. Igeri egiten badakit.

    I know how to swim.

  2. Gidatzen badakizu?

    Do you know how to drive?

  3. Ez dakit sukaldatzen.

    I do not know how to cook.

    In the negative, ez dakit comes before the -tzen form.

  4. Amonak euskaraz idazten badaki.

    Grandma knows how to write in Basque.

    amonak has the doer ending -k because jakin has a doer.

  5. Nork daki gitarra jotzen?

    Who knows how to play the guitar?

    After the question word nork, daki has no ba-.

  6. Gidatzen badakit, baina gaur ezin dut gidatu.

    I know how to drive, but I cannot drive today.

    jakin is the skill; ezin is today's situation.

Common Mistakes

  • Putting the -tzen form before ez dakit.

    Ez gidatzen dakit.
    Ez dakit gidatzen.

    In a negative sentence, ez and the verb come first. The -tzen form follows them.

  • Using the dictionary form instead of -tzen.

    Igeri egin badakit.
    Igeri egiten badakit.

    jakin in the sense of know how to takes the -tzen form: egiten, gidatzen, idazten.

How It Connects

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

-tzen + jakinLevel 2Knowing How to

Learn This First

Knowing how needs jakin and the -tzen form.

Words in This Pattern

jakinba