izan

A plausible reconstruction for the participle of the intransitive forms is Proto-Basque *eizani,[1] while *edun can be reconstructed for the transitive ones.[2] The verb forms in each paradigm have different etymologies:

• NOR: from the participle prefix *e- + the stem -iza- (of unknown origin) + the past participle suffix -n. It has numerous suppletive stem forms. The present-tense forms have three stems: -a (third-person singular only), -aiz (with first and second-person singular prefixes), and -ara (in first and second person plural forms).
• NOR-NORI: the stem -(t)zai- occurs in the indicative forms. The potential and imperative forms have the suppletive stem -ki-. Forms with plural nor agreement throughout the paradigm have the suffix -zki- immediately attached the stem and preceding the nori agreement suffixes.
• NOR-NORK: the stem -(d)u- forms the basis of the indicative forms. This stem also appears in the dialectal participle eduki. A verbal noun edutzea is attested from the fifteenth century, derived from either eduki or *edun. The potential and imperative forms are built on the stem -za- which becomes -tza- after a prefix ending in n.
• NOR-NORI: the stem is -i- in the indicative, and -ieza- in the potential and imperative. As in the nor-nori izan paradigm, forms with plural nor (absolutive) agreement are suffixed with -zki-. This marker is attached directly to the stem and precedes other agreement suffixes.

• IPA^(key): /is̻an/, [i.s̻ãn]

• Audio

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izan da/du/dio/zaio (present participle izaten, future participle izango, short form izan, verbal noun izate)

1. (auxiliary, intransitive) to be
   1. (copulative) to be (essentially or identified as)

      Hau nire emaztea da. ― This is my wife.

   2. to exist; to occur

      Jaia bihar izango da. ― The party will be tomorrow.

      Basaurin bi metro geltoki daude. ― There are two metro stations in Basauri.

   3. (Navarro-Lapurdian, Souletin) to be (to occupy a place)

      Baionan naiz. ― I am in Baiona.

   4. (copulative, Navarro-Lapurdian, Souletin) to be (in a transient fashion)

      Mahaia zikina da. ― The table is dirty.

2. (auxiliary, intransitive) Used to conjugate intransitive (nor) verbs.

   Zer gertatu da? ― What happened?

3. (auxiliary, intransitive) Used to conjugate intransitive verbs with dative arguments (nor nori verbs).

   Txapela erori zaio. ― His hat fell off. (literally, “The hat fell to him.”)

   Etorri zitzaigun. ― He came to us.

4. (transitive) to have, to possess

   Diru asko du. ― He has a lot of money.

   Synonyms: eduki, ukan

5. (auxiliary, transitive) Used to conjugate transitive (nor nork) verbs.

   Liburua irakurri dut. ― I've read the book.

6. (auxiliary, transitive) Used to conjugate transitive verbs with dative arguments (nor nori nork verbs).

   Liburua eman nizun. ― I gave you the book.

• Southern Basque (like Spanish) has two different verbs that are usually translated to English as “to be”: izan and egon. The former is used to express a quality of something (the first two examples), while the latter (the third and fourth examples) is used to express a location or a temporary state. Northern Basque does not have this distinction, so "to be" can be translated as izan in almost all contexts.

• Mahaia handia da. ― The table is big.
• Iñaki Donostiakoa da. ― Iñaki is from San Sebastián.
• Mahaia zikina dago. ― The table is dirty.
• Iñaki Donostian dago. ― Iñaki is in San Sebastián.

• Light verb constructions with egin (“to do”) usually take nor nork auxiliaries, even when translated by intransitive verbs.

Elurra egin du. ― It's snowed.

Lo egiten dute. ― They're sleeping.

• The dative argument (nori) frequently corresponds to an indirect object in English, but often indicates the possessor of the direct object (nor) of the verb, usually expressed as a possessive in English.
• Verbs of the nor nori nork class can only take third person direct objects (nor/absolutive arguments).
• The archaic conditional indicative, potential, subjunctive and imperative forms in the nor paradigm below actually belong to a different verb, *edin. This verb doesn't have any non-finite forms (its citation form itself is a reconstruction), so its forms are listed in most general use dictionaries together with the izan auxiliaries.
• Basque grammarians usually refer to the nor nork and nor nori nork auxiliaries by the northern citation form ukan or by the reconstructed participle form *edun; as a different verb from the intransitive forms of izan. Additionally, the archaic conditional indicative, potential, subjunctive and imperative forms in the nor-nork paradigm below actually belong to a different verb, *ezan. This verb doesn't have any non-finite forms (its citation form itself is a reconstruction), so its forms are listed in most general use dictionaries together with the izan auxiliaries.

This verb needs an inflection-table template.

• "izan" in Euskaltzaindiaren Hiztegia [Dictionary of the Basque Academy], euskaltzaindia.eus
• “izan” in Orotariko Euskal Hiztegia [General Basque Dictionary], euskaltzaindia.eus

• IPA^(key): (Spain) /ˈiθan/ [ˈi.θãn]
• IPA^(key): (Latin America) /ˈisan/ [ˈi.sãn]
• (Spain) Rhymes: -iθan
• (Latin America) Rhymes: -isan
• Syllabification: i‧zan

izan

1. third-person plural present indicative of izar