nuen / zenuen / zuen

Past of Ukan

Level 2

To say someone had something, use the past of ukan: nuen (I had), zenuen, zuen, genuen, zenuten, zuten. For several things, use nituen, zenituen, zituen, genituen, zenituzten, zituzten.

How It Works

The forms.

  • nik nuen / nituen (I had)
  • zuk zenuen / zenituen (you had)
  • hark zuen / zituen (he or she had)
  • guk genuen / genituen (we had)
  • zuek zenuten / zenituzten (you all had)
  • haiek zuten / zituzten (they had)

The first form in each pair is for one thing, and the second is for several things, just like dut and ditut in the present.

The owner takes -k. Because ukan is transitive, a noun owner takes the ergative -k: Aitonak etxe handi bat zuen (Grandfather had a big house). The pronouns are nik, zuk, hark, guk, zuek, haiek.

One thing or several. Use the plural forms for a plural noun and for any number above one: Lagun asko nituen (I had a lot of friends), Bi katu genituen (We had two cats). In a negative, the thing often takes -(r)ik and the verb stays singular: Ez nuen dirurik (I had no money).

Also an auxiliary. These forms make the past of transitive verbs: ikusi nuen (I saw), erosi zituen (he bought them). See The Simple Past. In the Southern Basque Country many speakers use the past of eduki for having: neukan. See Past of jakin and eduki.

Two words spelled zuen. zuen (he or she had) looks the same as the possessive zuen (your, for several people). The position tells them apart: zuen etxea (your house) but etxe bat zuen (he had a house).

Examples (6)

  1. Auto zahar bat nuen.

    I had an old car.

  2. Txikitan txakur bat genuen.

    When we were children we had a dog.

  3. Aitonak etxe handi bat zuen mendian.

    Grandfather had a big house in the mountains.

    The owner aitona takes -k: aitonak.

  4. Bilbon lagun asko nituen.

    I had a lot of friends in Bilbao.

    lagun asko is plural, so the verb is nituen.

  5. Ez nuen dirurik.

    I had no money.

    In the negative, diru takes -rik and the verb stays singular.

  6. Etxe bat al zenuten hondartzaren ondoan?

    Did you all have a house next to the beach?

Common Mistakes

  • Using the singular form for several things.

    Bi katu genuen.
    Bi katu genituen.

    After a number above one, the thing is plural, so the verb takes the plural form: genituen.

  • Using zenuen for zuek.

    Zuek etxe bat zenuen.
    Zuek etxe bat zenuten.

    zenuen goes with zuk (one person). With zuek the form is zenuten, or zenituzten for several things.

  • Leaving out -k on the owner.

    Ni auto bat nuen.
    Nik auto bat nuen.

    ukan is transitive, so the person who has something takes the ergative: nik, not ni.

How It Connects

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

nuen / zenuen / zuenLevel 2Past of Ukan

Learn This First

ukan past follows ukan present.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

ukanedun