-tzen utzi

Letting Someone Do

Level 4

To say let someone do, use the -tzen form with utzi: Gurasoek ez didate irteten uzten (My parents do not let me go out). In the usage most learners meet, the person you let is in the dative.

How It Works

Letting a person act. The person allowed takes the dative -(r)i, and utzi takes a nor-nori-nork auxiliary:

  • Gurasoek ez didate irteten uzten. (My parents do not let me go out.)
  • Ez diot inori nire autoa gidatzen uzten. (I do not let anyone drive my car.)
  • Ez utzi txakurrari ohera igotzen! (Do not let the dog get on the bed!)

In commands, use the receiver forms: Utzi iezadazu pasatzen (Let me through). You can leave out the -tzen verb when it is clear: Utzi niri (Let me do it).

Letting something happen. When the thing just goes through a process and nobody is really acting, it is the plain object: Botila erortzen utzi du (He let the bottle fall). Babarrunak egosten utzi ditut (I have left the beans cooking).

Northern and Navarrese usage. In the northern dialects and in Navarrese, the person allowed can instead be the plain object, with a du auxiliary, often with -tzera: Ez naute irtetera uzten. Bizkaian and Gipuzkoan speech, and most learner materials, say Ez didate irteten uzten. Both are correct Basque.

Do not mix it up with stopping. -tzeari utzi means to stop doing: Erretzeari utzi dio (He has quit smoking). Erretzen utzi dio means he has let her smoke. To make someone do something, use -arazi.

Examples (6)

  1. Gurasoek ez didate irteten uzten.

    My parents do not let me go out.

    didate: they (nork) let me (nori).

  2. Utzi iezadazu pasatzen, mesedez.

    Let me through, please.

  3. Irakasleak etxera goiz joaten utzi digu.

    The teacher has let us go home early.

  4. Ez diot inori nire autoa gidatzen uzten.

    I do not let anyone drive my car.

    inori is the dative of inor.

  5. Ez utzi txakurrari ohera igotzen!

    Do not let the dog get on the bed!

  6. Esnea irakiten utzi dut.

    I have let the milk boil.

    Nobody is acting here, so esnea is the plain object and the auxiliary is dut.

Common Mistakes

  • Using -tzen utzi (let) when you mean stop doing.

    Erretzen utzi diot.
    Erretzeari utzi diot.

    To say I have quit smoking, use -tzeari utzi. Erretzen utzi diot means I have let him smoke.

  • Leaving the dative out of the auxiliary.

    Gurasoek ez dute niri irteten uzten.
    Gurasoek ez didate niri irteten uzten.

    When the person allowed is in the dative (niri), the auxiliary must show it too. dute has no place for niri; the nor-nori-nork form didate does.

How It Connects

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

-tzen utziLevel 4Letting Someone Do

Learn This First

Letting someone do follows stopping.

Words in This Pattern

utzi