Common Idiomatic Constructions in Basque

In Brief

Basque often expresses one everyday idea with a fixed phrase rather than a single verb: kontuz ibili “be careful,” gogoan izan “remember,” ados jarri “agree,” alde egin “leave,” and aurre egin “face or confront.” Learn each phrase as a complete unit, including the case ending on any complement and the auxiliary it selects: changing only the last verb is not enough.

Overview

These five constructions combine a short element such as kontuz, gogoan, ados, alde, or aurre with an ordinary verb. The resulting meaning is partly idiomatic: it cannot always be predicted by translating each word separately. For example, alde can refer to a side, but alde egin means “leave” or “go away.” English often uses one verb where Basque uses a phrase.

At B1, these expressions matter because they appear constantly in instructions, conversations, news, and workplace language. They also bring together several foundations of Basque grammar: case endings (suffixes showing a noun’s role), aspect, and auxiliary agreement. The fixed part normally stays unchanged, while the final verb carries the verbal form and determines which auxiliary is used.

The safest learning strategy is therefore to store more than a dictionary pairing. Learn arazoari aurre egin as “face the problem,” with arazoari in the dative case, and learn ados jarri gara as “we agreed,” with an intransitive izan auxiliary. That small amount of extra information prevents many natural-looking but ungrammatical combinations.

How It Works

The five core patterns

Construction	Core meaning	Typical complement	Auxiliary pattern	Example form
kontuz ibili	be careful, take care	-ekin “with/about” or a clause	usually izan-type with ibili	kontuz ibili gara
gogoan izan	remember, bear in mind	remembered thing in the absolutive (the unmarked object form)	transitive ukan-type	gogoan dut / gogoan izan dugu
ados jarri	agree, reach agreement	-ekin with a person; often -ri buruz about a topic	izan-type	ados jarri dira
alde egin	leave, go away	-tik from a place; -ra toward a destination	transitive ukan-type, despite its intransitive English meaning	alde egin du
aurre egin	face, resist, deal with	-ri dative (the ending marking the person or thing confronted)	nor–nori, agreeing with subject and dative complement	arazoari aurre egin diogu

The expression’s final verb behaves like that verb elsewhere. You can place it in different tenses and aspects, make it negative, or combine it with a modal construction. The fixed element remains in place:

• Kontuz ibili naiz. — I have been careful.
• Ez gara ados jarri. — We did not agree.
• Alde egingo dute. — They will leave.
• Honi aurre egin diezaiokegu. — We can face this.

Kontuz ibili: being careful

Kontuz means “carefully” or “with care,” and ibili is literally associated with moving about or behaving. Together, kontuz ibili is the ordinary warning “be careful.” A danger or area of concern is often introduced with -ekin:

• Kontuz ibili autoekin. — Be careful with cars.
• Kontuz ibili informazio horrekin. — Be careful with that information.

A following clause can state what must not happen: Kontuz ibili eror ez zaitezen means “Be careful not to fall.” In signs, headlines, and urgent speech, Kontuz! alone is a complete warning. Kontuz ibili! is fuller and explicitly tells someone to act carefully.

Gogoan izan: keeping something in mind

In gogoan izan, the item remembered is the direct object (the person or thing directly affected by the verb). Basque leaves that object without an added case suffix, while the subject normally takes the ergative -k when stated:

• Nik hori gogoan dut. — I remember that / I have that in mind.
• Gogoan izan arauak. — Remember the rules.

Two shapes are especially useful. The compact finite pattern gogoan dut/duzu/du... is extremely common: literally, “I have/you have/he or she has in mind.” The fuller form gogoan izan appears in dictionary form, commands, and constructions with behar “must/need to”: Gogoan izan behar dugu “We must bear it in mind.”

Do not confuse this with gogoratu, another common verb meaning “remember” or “recall.” They overlap, but gogoan izan often emphasizes keeping a fact, instruction, or person in mind.

Ados jarri: reaching agreement

Ados means “in agreement,” while jarri basically means “put” or “become/set oneself.” Ados jarri describes reaching agreement, not merely already sharing an opinion. It uses an izan-type auxiliary because the agreeing participants undergo the change of state:

• Azkenean ados jarri gara. — In the end, we agreed.
• Bi aldeak ados jarri dira. — The two sides have reached agreement.

Use -ekin for the person you agree with: zuzendariarekin ados jarri naiz “I have reached agreement with the director.” To describe an existing state or opinion, use ados egon instead: Zurekin ados nago “I agree with you.” English uses “agree” for both, so this distinction deserves deliberate practice.

Alde egin: leaving

Alde egin means “leave,” “go away,” or sometimes “flee,” depending on context. The point of departure takes -tik, and a destination can take -ra:

• Etxetik alde egin du. — He or she has left home.
• Goiz alde egin dugu. — We left early.
• Hemendik alde egin! — Get out of here!

Although English “leave” is intransitive here (it has no direct object), standard Basque alde egin takes a transitive ukan-type auxiliary: dut, duzu, du, dugu, duzue, dute in the present perfect pattern. This is a property of the whole expression and must be learned with it.

Aurre egin: facing or resisting something

Aurre relates to the front or the space before something. In aurre egin, the challenge is marked with dative -ri:

• Arazoari aurre egin behar diogu. — We must face the problem.
• Presioari aurre egin zion. — He or she resisted the pressure.

The auxiliary belongs to the nor–nori pattern: it agrees with the subject (nor) and the dative participant (nori). Thus diogu in arazoari aurre egin diogu encodes “we” plus “to it.” With a plural dative target, the auxiliary changes: Arazoei aurre egin diegu “We have faced the problems.” This agreement is one reason to memorize the noun phrase and verb phrase together.

Aspect, tense, and negation

Basque verbal phrases usually put the changing grammatical information near the end. Compare the same construction across common forms:

Function	Basque	English
completed event	Ados jarri gara.	We have agreed.
habitual or ongoing behavior	Kontuz ibiltzen gara.	We are usually careful.
future	Alde egingo dugu.	We will leave.
obligation	Gogoan izan behar dugu.	We must remember it.
negative	Ez diogu arazoari aurre egin.	We have not faced the problem.

With ez, the finite auxiliary normally follows the negative marker, while the non-finite verb comes later. Word order can vary for focus, but Ez gara ados jarri is a dependable neutral model.

Examples in Context

Basque	English	Note
Kontuz ibili autoekin!	Be careful with cars!	-ekin marks the source of concern.
Kontuz ibili, zorua bustita dago eta.	Be careful, because the floor is wet.	A natural spoken warning.
Bidaiatzean beti kontuz ibiltzen gara.	We are always careful when travelling.	ibiltzen gara presents habitual behavior.
Gogoan izan behar dugu.	We must bear it in mind.	Obligation with behar.
Gogoan dut esan zenidana.	I remember what you told me.	Compact finite pattern gogoan dut.
Gogoan izan biharko bilera.	Remember tomorrow’s meeting.	Direct instruction.
Azkenean ados jarri gara.	In the end, we agreed.	Reaching agreement.
Ez naiz lankidearekin ados jarri.	I did not reach agreement with my colleague.	The person takes -ekin.
Puntu horretan zurekin ados nago.	I agree with you on that point.	ados egon describes an existing position.
Bileratik goiz alde egin dute.	They left the meeting early.	Origin marked by -tik.
Mesedez, ez egin alde oraindik.	Please, don’t leave yet.	Negative request.
Lapurrak korrika alde egin zuen.	The thief ran away.	Context gives alde egin the sense “flee.”
Arazoari aurre egin behar diogu.	We must face the problem.	Dative singular -ari and auxiliary diogu.
Enpresak zailtasun handiei aurre egin die.	The company has faced major difficulties.	Plural dative -ei is reflected in die.
Elkarrekin presioari aurre egingo diogu.	Together we will withstand the pressure.	Future egingo with nor–nori auxiliary.

Common Mistakes

Translating each word instead of learning the phrase

• Wrong: Arazoa aurrean egin dugu.
• Right: Arazoari aurre egin diogu.
• Why: “Face a problem” is the fixed construction zerbaiti aurre egin. The challenge takes dative -ri, not the English-like direct-object pattern.

Using an izan auxiliary with alde egin

• Wrong: Goiz alde egin gara.
• Right: Goiz alde egin dugu.
• Why: Although nobody acts on a direct object, this fixed expression follows the transitive ukan auxiliary pattern. Learn alde egin du as a unit.

Confusing a state with reaching agreement

• Wrong: Zurekin ados jarri naiz when you only mean “I share your opinion.”
• Right: Zurekin ados nago.
• Why: Ados egon describes being in agreement; ados jarri describes becoming or managing to become agreed.

Dropping the dative agreement in aurre egin

• Wrong: Arazoari aurre egin dugu.
• Right: Arazoari aurre egin diogu.
• Why: The ending -ari introduces a dative participant, and the standard auxiliary must register it. Diogu means that “we” act in relation to “it.”

Attaching a changing ending to the fixed element

• Wrong: Adosean jarri gara.
• Right: Ados jarri gara.
• Why: Ados is fixed in this expression. Tense, aspect, and agreement are carried by jarri and its auxiliary.

Using kontuz as if it were an adjective

• Wrong: Kontuza izan.
• Right: Kontuz ibili. or simply Kontuz!
• Why: Kontuz functions adverbially in this warning; it does not take the ordinary article -a.

Usage Notes

Kontuz! ranges from a helpful “Careful!” to an urgent “Watch out!” Tone and context do much of the work. Kontuz ibili sounds less abrupt and can refer to sustained caution, not only an immediate danger.

Alde egin! can be a neutral instruction to leave, but with forceful intonation it means “Go away!” or “Get out!” In polite situations, soften it with context or a request form. By contrast, alde egin in narration is neutral: it simply reports departure unless the context suggests escape.

With agreement, English hides an important contrast. Ados gaude says “we agree/we are in agreement”; ados jarri gara says that a discussion or negotiation ended in agreement. In institutional writing, subjects such as bi aldeak “the two sides” or alderdiak “the parties” are frequent with ados jarri.

Aurre egin is productive with both concrete opponents and abstract pressures: etsaiari “the enemy,” beldurrari “fear,” krisiari “the crisis,” or aldaketari “change.” Its translation varies naturally between “face,” “confront,” “resist,” “withstand,” and “deal with.” Choose the English translation from the situation rather than assigning one fixed English verb.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

These expressions can head larger structures. Gogoan izan may take a noun phrase or a whole clause: Gogoan izan atea itxi behar duzula means “Remember that you have to close the door.” Here -la turns the statement into a clause functioning as what is remembered.

Case and auxiliary agreement remain visible even when word order changes for emphasis. Both Arazoari aurre egin diogu and Aurre egin diogu arazoari can be grammatical, but the latter gives the act of confronting greater prominence or adds the problem afterward. Do not mistake flexible order for optional case marking: -ri and its auxiliary agreement still matter.

Some phrases permit further derivation. From aurre egin, Basque forms the noun aurre egite “the act of confronting/resisting,” as in krisiari aurre egiteko neurriak “measures to deal with the crisis.” The ending -tzeko can express purpose or connect the verbal noun to another noun. Similarly, ados jartzeko means “in order to agree” or “for reaching agreement.” These forms are common in formal prose and news reports.

Finally, idiomatic constructions are not all grammatically alike. Many Basque expressions contain egin, but that does not guarantee the same auxiliary or case frame. Compare lan egin dugu “we have worked,” alde egin dugu “we have left,” and arazoari aurre egin diogu “we have faced the problem.” The entire construction—not the visible verb alone—determines the pattern.

Practice Tips

1. Make three-part flashcards. Record the phrase, its usual complement, and one finite model: aurre egin + -ri + diogu; ados jarri + -ekin + gara. This trains grammar and meaning together.
2. Transform one sentence four ways. Start with Ados jarri gara, then make it negative, future, habitual, and obligatory. Repeat with each expression while keeping the fixed element unchanged.
3. Sort examples by auxiliary. Put kontuz ibili and ados jarri in an izan group; put gogoan izan and alde egin in a transitive group; keep aurre egin in its own nor–nori group. Say the relevant noun ending aloud with the auxiliary.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Common Main Verbs — reviews basic verbs and periphrastic verb forms needed to inflect these phrases.