ez dago ... -(e)nik

There Is Nobody Who

Level 5

To say that nobody or nothing fits a description, turn the description into a relative clause and add the partitive -ik: Ez dago hori dakienik (There is nobody who knows that).

How It Works

1. Building it. Take the relative -(e)n form of the verb and add -ik:

  • dakien + ik → dakienik
  • egin duen + ik → egin duenik
  • etorri den + ik → etorri denik
  • gustatzen ez zaion + ik → gustatzen ez zaionik

This is the partitive version of the headless relative -(e)na.

2. Where it appears.

  • Negative "there is": Ez dago hori dakienik. Newspapers write Hemen dena dakienik ez dago (Nobody here knows everything).
  • Questions: Ba al dago euskaraz dakienik? (Is there anyone who speaks Basque?)
  • Positive bada, meaning there are some who: Bada oraindik hori sinesten duenik (There are still people who believe that).

3. With a head word. If you name the person, the relative keeps plain -(e)n and the head word shows the negative: Ez dago hori dakien inor (There isn't anyone who knows that), Ez dago hori dakien pertsonarik. See inor, ezer, inon, inoiz.

4. Same ending, different job. In Ez dut uste etorriko denik, -(e)nik is a "that" clause after a negative verb of thinking or saying. In Ez dago etorri denik, it is a relative: "nobody who has come".

Tip: Ask yourself whether you mean "nobody who" or "the one who". "Nobody who" takes -nik; "the one who" takes -na.

Examples (6)

  1. Ez dago hori dakienik.

    There is nobody who knows that.

  2. Ba al dago euskaraz dakienik?

    Is there anyone who speaks Basque?

  3. Ez dago zu bezain ondo abesten duenik.

    Nobody sings as well as you.

  4. Bada oraindik hori sinesten duenik.

    There are still people who believe that.

    With bada, -nik means "some who".

  5. Hemen ez dago gustatzen ez zaionik.

    There is nobody here who doesn't like it.

  6. Ez dago hori dakien inor.

    There isn't anyone who knows that.

    With the head word inor, the relative keeps plain -(e)n.

Common Mistakes

  • Using -na instead of -nik.

    Ez dago hori dakiena.
    Ez dago hori dakienik.

    Ez dago hori dakiena means the particular person who knows that is not here. To say that nobody knows it, use the partitive: dakienik.

  • Leaving the relative verb without an ending.

    Ez dago hori dakien.
    Ez dago hori dakienik.

    A relative clause with no head word needs an ending: -nik here, because the sentence is negative.

How It Connects

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

ez dago ... -(e)nikLevel 5There Is Nobody Who

Learn This First

Nobody who follows headless relatives and -(e)nik.