Aurrera!: A Textbook for Studying Basque, Volumes 1

Chapter Thirteen Living in the Here and Now

Living in the Here and Now Dialogue Banpiroek ezin dute eguzkia hartu! 1. Larunbatean, Goxo sorginak hondartzara joan nahi du. 2. Baina ez du bakarrik joan nahi. 3. Pentsatzen eta pentsatzen ari da. A! Banpiroarekin joango da. 4. Telefono gidan Xurgaren zenbakia aurkitzen du eta deitzen du. 5. xurga: Zer? 6. goxo: Ni naiz! Esnatuta zaude? Goazen hondartzara! 7. x: Oraintxe bertan? Ez. Ohean nago. 8. g: Goizeko zortzietan? Alferra! Jaiki! Goazen hondartzara! 9. x: Goxo, maitea, banpiroa naiz, eta lo egiten dut egunean. 10. g: Lo egin ahal duzu hondartzan. Euritako handi bat daukat. 11. Oso isilik egongo naiz. Irakurriko dut neuk, eta zuk lo egingo duzu. 12. x: Ez duzu ulertzen. Entzun! Ban-pi-ro-a naiz. 13. Hilkutxan edo etxe barruan lo egiten dut. Ezin dut hondartzan lo egin. 14. g: Baina oso egun polita da. Bero-bero egingo du. 15. Kotxez joango gara. Ez duzu erratzean eseri behar. Goazen, mesedez. 16. x: Goxo, entzun, gauza bera esaten dut. Banpiroa naiz. 17. Egun osoa pasatzen dut etxe barruan. Lo egiten dut, irakurtzen dut, 18. eta beharbada telefonoz hitz egiten dut. 19. Baina ezin dut kanpoan egon, eguzkitan, desagertuko naizelako! c h a p t e r t h i r t e e n 307 308 livin g in th e h ere and now 20. g: (triste) A, orain ulertzen dut. Banpiroak desagertzen dira eguzkitan. 21. x: Bai, horixe. Sentitzen dut. 22. g: (pozik berriro) Baina ez dugu eguzkia ikusten gauean! 23. Ilunaldean joango gara. Ilargia hartuko dugu! ■ Hitz eta esaldi berriak ■ eguzki sun eguzkia hartu to sunbathe (lit.: to take the sun) hondartza beach ari da a verb form that represents the present progressive gida guide telefono gida phone book deitzen call(s), calling deitu to call goazen let’s go zortzietan at eight o’clock euritako umbrella neuk I [emphatic form] ulertzen understand(s) ulertu to understand entzun to listen barruan inside bero warm bero-bero very warm gauza bera same thing desagertu to disappear sentitu to feel, to be sorry berriro again ilargi moon h abitual p resen t 309 zaunka egin to bark ezabatu to erase isildu to be quiet, to fall silent bazkaldu to have lunch sendagile doctor (medical) astero every week inoiz ez never goizero every morning edonon everywhere, anywhere toki place, location inon ez no where, not anywhere gutxitan seldom hilabete month hilabetero every month ordutegi schedule liburutegi library bihurtu to turn into (something) hegaz egin to fly koro chorus abestu to sing aberats rich itsaso sea kalkulu calculus [math] Hor dago! There it is! ■ Habitual present (compound present) ■ Now that we have learned the recent past (present perfect) and the future tense, learning the habitual or compound present will be easy. All we need to do is use the present participle of the main verb instead of the basic form or the future form, and Hor dago! (There it is!) the present tense. This form of 310 livin g in th e h ere and now the present tense is called the habitual present, because it describes repeated or habitual actions. These are the kinds of things you do every day, or every week, or every year, and so on. These time expressions will come in handy while practicing the habitual present, so we’ll learn some of them as well. But first we must learn to form the present participle. formation of present participles (or the present-tense form) In English, the present participle is the -ing form of the verb. In Basque, however , we’ll use the term present participle to describe the form of the main verb that we will use to make the present tense. It won’t always translate as -ing in English. Observe the following sentences: I eat lunch every day. I am eating lunch right now. We never eat breakfast. We’re not eating breakfast at the moment. She cleans the house every week. She’s cleaning the house today. The sentences on the left are habitual or repeated actions. They are samples of the habitual present tense (compound present). The sentences on the right are present progressive (continuous present), that is, the action is in progress as we speak. We’ll study that tense in volume 2 of Aurrera! In Euskara, we form the habitual present by combining the present participle of the main verb with the appropriate form of the present-tense-auxiliary verbs. These are the...