al

Yes-No Questions

Level 1

Turn a statement into a question with a rising voice, or add al just before the conjugated verb: Etxean al zaude? (Are you at home?)

How It Works

Basque has two ways to ask a question that expects yes or no.

1. Rising intonation. Keep the word order of the statement and let your voice rise at the end: Etxean zaude? (Are you at home?) Bilbokoa zara? (Are you from Bilbao?) This is very common in speech.

2. The question word al. Put al immediately before the conjugated verb. With a one-word verb it goes right in front of it: Etxean al zaude? With a main verb plus auxiliary it goes between them, just before the auxiliary:

  • Kafea nahi al duzu? (Do you want coffee?)
  • Euskaraz hitz egiten al duzu? (Do you speak Basque?)
  • Etorriko al zara bihar? (Will you come tomorrow?)

Negative questions. With ez, al goes between ez and the verb: Ez al zaude nekatuta? (Aren't you tired?)

Answering. Say bai (yes) or ez (no), and usually repeat the verb: Bai, etxean nago. Ez, ez nago etxean.

Regional note. al is the Standard Basque question word, and it is the safe choice in writing. It is not used in every dialect: some speakers add -a to the verb instead (duzua?), and others use only intonation. Questions with a question word such as zer or non never take al; they follow their own word order.

Examples (6)

  1. Etxean al zaude?

    Are you at home?

    al comes right before the verb zaude.

  2. Kafea nahi al duzu?

    Do you want coffee?

    With nahi duzu, al goes before the auxiliary duzu.

  3. Euskaraz hitz egiten al duzu?

    Do you speak Basque?

  4. Etorriko al zara bihar?

    Will you come tomorrow?

  5. Ez al zaude nekatuta?

    Aren't you tired?

    In a negative question, al sits between ez and the verb.

  6. Bilbokoa zara?

    Are you from Bilbao?

    No al here: rising intonation alone makes it a question.

Common Mistakes

  • Putting al after the verb, like a tag at the end.

    Etxean zaude al?
    Etxean al zaude?

    al is not a tag word. It must come immediately before the conjugated verb.

  • Placing al after the auxiliary in a negative question.

    Ez zara al etorriko?
    Ez al zara etorriko?

    al still goes directly before the finite verb, so in a negative question it comes between ez and zara.

How It Connects

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

alLevel 1Yes-No Questions

Learn This First

al questions start with izan.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

albai