harik eta ... arte

Until (Literary): Harik Eta

Level 6

Harik eta hil zen arte, herrian bizi izan zen. (She lived in the village right up until she died.) harik eta opens the clause, and arte still closes it.

How It Works

1. The frame. harik eta + clause + arte:

  • with a participle: harik eta bukatu arte (until it is finished)
  • with a past verb: harik eta hil zen arte, harik eta iritsi ziren arte
  • older variants: harik eta ... artean and harik eta ... arteraino (all the way until); compare -raino

2. What it adds. The meaning is the same as the plain arte clause. harik eta only adds weight, like English 'right up until' or 'until at last'. Without it, the sentence is still correct: Hil zen arte herrian bizi izan zen.

3. Word order. harik eta always comes first in its clause. The clause can come before or after the main clause; after it, a comma usually separates them: Itxaron egin genuen, harik eta azken trena iritsi zen arte.

4. With a negative main clause. As with plain arte, a negative main clause means 'not before': Ez naiz etxetik aterako, harik eta euria gelditu arte. (I won't leave the house until the rain stops.)

Tip: Use harik eta in writing when you want to stress how long something lasted. In conversation, plain arte is enough. For the opposite end of a period, see -(e)netik.

Examples (5)

  1. Harik eta hil zen arte, herrian bizi izan zen.

    She lived in the village right up until she died.

  2. Lanean jarraituko dugu, harik eta bukatu arte.

    We will keep working until we finish.

  3. Ez naiz etxetik aterako, harik eta euria gelditu arte.

    I won't leave the house until the rain stops.

  4. Itxaron egin genuen, harik eta azken trena iritsi zen arte.

    We waited until the last train finally arrived.

  5. Harik eta zuk esan arte, ez nekien ezer.

    Until you told me, I didn't know anything.

Common Mistakes

  • Leaving out arte.

    Harik eta hil zen, herrian bizi izan zen.
    Harik eta hil zen arte, herrian bizi izan zen.

    harik eta only reinforces the clause. arte (or artean, arteraino) is still what makes it mean until.

  • Putting harik eta at the end of the clause.

    Lanean jarraituko dugu, bukatu arte harik eta.
    Lanean jarraituko dugu, harik eta bukatu arte.

    harik eta always opens the until-clause, before the verb.

How It Connects

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

harik eta ... arteLevel 6Until (Literary): Harik Eta

Learn This First

harik eta follows until.

Words in This Pattern