etorri nintzen / ikusi nuen

The Simple Past

Level 2

To tell what happened before today, use the dictionary form of the verb and a past auxiliary: joan nintzen (I went), ikusi nuen (I saw).

How It Works

Two parts. First the participle (joan, ikusi, egin), then a past auxiliary: nintzen, zinen, zen or nuen, zenuen, zuen.

Choosing the auxiliary. It is the same choice as in the present perfect. Verbs of coming, going, being and becoming take nintzen: joan nintzen, etorri zen, jaio ginen. Verbs that act on something take nuen, and their subject takes -k: Nik ikusi nuen. With several things the auxiliary is plural: Liburu asko irakurri nituen.

When to use it. Use it for a finished event in a time before today: atzo (yesterday), iaz (last year), joan den astean (last week), duela bi urte (two years ago), 2015ean. For something that happened earlier today, use the present perfect. See Today or Before Today?.

Negatives and questions. In a negative the auxiliary moves up next to ez and the participle follows it: Ez nintzen festara joan (I did not go to the party). See Negation With ez. In a question the question word stands before the participle: Zer egin zenuen larunbatean?

Other auxiliaries. Verbs with a receiver or an affected person have their own pasts, such as eman nion (I gave it to him or her) and ahaztu zitzaidan (I forgot). See Past of Giving and Telling and Past of zait.

Examples (6)

  1. Atzo Bilbora joan nintzen.

    Yesterday I went to Bilbao.

    joan takes naiz, so its past auxiliary is nintzen.

  2. Iaz film hori ikusi genuen.

    Last year we saw that film.

    ikusi takes dut, so its past auxiliary is genuen.

  3. Zer egin zenuen larunbatean?

    What did you do on Saturday?

  4. Nire alaba 2015ean jaio zen.

    My daughter was born in 2015.

  5. Ez nintzen festara joan.

    I did not go to the party.

    After ez, the auxiliary comes first and joan moves to the end.

  6. Udan liburu asko irakurri nituen.

    I read a lot of books in the summer.

    Several books, so the plural auxiliary nituen.

Common Mistakes

  • Using nuen with a verb that takes naiz.

    Atzo Bilbora joan nuen.
    Atzo Bilbora joan nintzen.

    joan is a nor verb: joan naiz in the present perfect, so joan nintzen in the past.

  • Leaving out -k on the subject of a transitive verb.

    Ni film hori ikusi nuen.
    Nik film hori ikusi nuen.

    ikusi takes nuen, so its subject takes the ergative: nik.

  • Keeping the participle before the auxiliary in a negative.

    Ez joan nintzen festara.
    Ez nintzen festara joan.

    In a negative the auxiliary jumps up next to ez, and the participle moves after it.

How It Connects

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etorri nintzen / ikusi nuenLevel 2The Simple Past

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The simple past combines the perfect pattern with past auxiliaries.

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Words in This Pattern

izanedun