-tzen + Perception Verb
Seeing and Hearing Someone Do
To say I heard Ane singing, use the -tzen form: Ane kantatzen entzun dut. The person you see or hear is the object of the main verb, so the auxiliary agrees with them: Umeak jolasten ikusi ditut.
How It Works
How to build it. Put the person or thing, then the action in the -tzen form, then the verb of perception:
- Ane kantatzen entzun dut. (I have heard Ane singing.)
- Umeak parkean jolasten ikusi ditut. (I have seen the children playing in the park.)
- Lurra mugitzen sentitu genuen. (We felt the ground moving.)
Agreement. The person seen or heard is the object of ikusi or entzun, so the auxiliary follows them, as in nau and zaitut: Zu dantzatzen ikusi zaitut (I have seen you dancing). Ikusi naute means they have seen me.
Which verbs. ikusi (see), entzun (hear), sentitu and sumatu (feel, sense), and also aurkitu and harrapatu (find, catch someone doing). The action has to be something that happens and can be perceived, not a state like knowing.
Seeing a scene or learning a fact. The -tzen form describes an action you perceived directly. A clause with -(e)la reports a fact you found out: Ikusi dut Ane etorri dela means I have seen (noticed) that Ane has come.
Examples (6)
- Ane kantatzen entzun dut.
I have heard Ane singing.
- Umeak parkean jolasten ikusi ditut.
I have seen the children playing in the park.
ditut agrees with umeak, the children being seen.
- Zu dantzatzen ikusi zaitut.
I have seen you dancing.
zaitut: you are the object of ikusi.
- Atzo Mikel autobusa hartzen ikusi nuen.
Yesterday I saw Mikel taking the bus.
The -tzen clause has its own object, autobusa.
- Norbait atea jotzen entzun dugu.
We have heard someone knocking at the door.
- Lurra mugitzen sentitu genuen.
We felt the ground moving.
Common Mistakes
Making the auxiliary agree with a third person when the object is you.
Zu kantatzen entzun dut.Zu kantatzen entzun zaitut.The person you hear is the object of entzun, so the auxiliary must agree with them. With zu (you), dut becomes zaitut.
How It Connects
Learn This First
Seeing someone do builds on -tzen and me/you objects.
Related Patterns
- -tzen utziLetting Someone Do
utzi (let) takes the same -tzen form: irteten utzi.
Level 4 - -tzen ari izanRight Now: -tzen Ari Naiz
The -tzen form again, for an action in progress in your own clause.
Level 2 - -(e)laThat: -(e)la
The finite alternative, which reports a fact rather than a scene.
Level 2 - -tzen jarraitu / -tzen ikasiKeep Doing, Learn to Do
Other verbs that take the -tzen form.
Level 3
Words in This Pattern
Practice -tzen + Perception Verb in Bubblegum
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