-tzen + Auxiliary

The Present Habitual

Level 1

To say what you usually do, put the -tzen or -ten form of the verb before a present auxiliary: Lan egiten dut (I work). Etxera joaten naiz (I go home).

How It Works

Two parts
The first word is the verb in its -tzen or -ten form, such as egiten, joaten, edaten or ikasten. The second word is the auxiliary, which changes for the person:

  • Egunero euskara ikasten dut. (I study Basque every day.)
  • Anek egunero euskara ikasten du. (Ane studies Basque every day.)
  • Goizean goiz jaikitzen naiz. (I get up early in the morning.)

Which auxiliary?
Verbs of going, coming and changing, like joan (go), etorri (come) and jaiki (get up), take naiz, zara, da. Verbs where someone acts on something, like jan (eat), ikusi (see) and lan egin (work), take dut, duzu, du, and their subject takes -k: Anek kafea edaten du. A verb keeps the same auxiliary it has in the perfect: joan naiz and joaten naiz; jan dut and jaten dut.

What it means
This form tells what happens regularly or what is generally true: Autobusa zortzietan irteten da. (The bus leaves at eight.) For something happening at this very moment, Basque usually uses -tzen ari naiz: Orain kafea edaten ari naiz. (I am drinking coffee right now.) The plain -tzen form can also describe the present moment, as in Zer egiten duzu hemen? (What are you doing here?), but ari makes that meaning clear. A few verbs, such as joan and etorri, also have one-word forms; see noa, zoaz, doa.

Negative sentences
ez goes with the auxiliary, and the two move in front of the verb: Ez dut telebista ikusten. (I don’t watch TV.) See negation with ez. To build the -tzen form of any verb, see Making the -tzen Form.

Examples (6)

  1. Lan egiten dut.

    I work.

    Word by Word: work doing I-have-it

    lan egin takes dut, so the habitual is egiten dut.

  2. Etxera joaten naiz.

    I go home.

    Word by Word: home-to going I-am

    joan takes naiz. This describes a regular habit, not the trip happening now.

  3. Kafea edaten dugu.

    We drink coffee.

    edan takes the dut series; dugu is “we”.

  4. Anek egunero euskara ikasten du.

    Ane studies Basque every day.

    The doer Ane takes -k because ikasi uses du.

  5. Nire lagunak udan Bilbora etortzen dira.

    My friends come to Bilbao in the summer.

    etorri takes izan; dira agrees with the plural lagunak.

  6. Ez dut telebista ikusten.

    I don’t watch TV.

    In the negative, ez dut comes before ikusten.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the participle when you mean a regular habit.

    Egunero lan egin dut.
    Egunero lan egiten dut.

    To say “I work every day” as a routine, use the -tzen form. Egin dut is the present perfect: egunero lan egin dut means “I have worked every day” (for example, this week), not a general habit.

  • Choosing naiz for a verb that takes dut.

    Kafea edaten naiz.
    Kafea edaten dut.

    edan (drink) has a drinker and something drunk, so it takes dut, duzu, du. Use naiz only with verbs like joan and etorri.

How It Connects

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

-tzen + AuxiliaryLevel 1The Present Habitual

Learn This First

The habitual needs the -tzen form and the auxiliary pattern.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

izanedun