Iritzia eta konpletiboak — Giving opinions and completive clauses with -ela

For A2, expressing opinions is one of the key skills. This lesson gives you:

1. The formulas for starting an opinion.
2. The completive clause with -ela (that…).
3. Negating an opinion with -enik (I don’t think that…).
4. The cause with -lako and zeren (because…).

Starting an opinion

English	Basque
I think that…	Uste dut…
It seems to me that…	Iruditzen zait…
In my opinion	Nire ustez
For me	Niretzat
I know that…	Badakit…
I agree	Ados nago
I don’t agree	Ez nago ados
You’re right	Arrazoia duzu
It’s true	Egia da

The completive clause with -ela

When the opinion introduces another clause, the subordinate verb takes the suffix -(e)la (“that…”). The change is very regular:

Without suffix	With -ela	English
da	dela	that it is
naiz	naizela	that I am
zara	zarela	that you are
du	duela	that he/she/it has it
ditu	dituela	that he/she/it has them
dut	dudala	that I have it
zen	zela	that it was
nuen	nuela	that I had it
etorriko da	etorriko dela	that he/she/it will come

Uste dut Anboto pozik dagoela. — I think that Anboto is happy.

Badakit gauza zailak gertatu direla. — I know that difficult things have happened.

Argi dago euskaraz hobeto hitz egiten duela. — It’s clear that he/she speaks better in Basque.

Negating an opinion: -enik

When you say “I don’t think that + verb”, the suffix of the subordinate verb changes to -enik:

English	Basque
I don’t think it’s good	Ez dut uste ona denik
I don’t think they will come	Ez dut uste etorriko direnik
It doesn’t seem to me that it’s true	Ez zait iruditzen egia denik

This is the specific form of negation with verbs of opinion. In the affirmative: uste dut ona dela. In the negative: ez dut uste ona denik.

Other opinion structures

These structures combine adjective + da + clause with -ela:

English	Basque
It’s clear that…	Argi dago + -(e)la
It’s important to…	Garrantzitsua da + -tzea
It’s true that…	Egia da + -(e)la
It’s possible to…	Posible da + -tzea
It’s logical that…	Logikoa da + -(e)la
It’s interesting to…	Interesgarria da + -tzea

Argi dago ikasten ari zarela. — It’s clear that you are studying.

Garrantzitsua da euskaraz hitz egitea. — It’s important to speak in Basque.

Causal clauses: -lako and zeren

To express cause (“because”), you have two ways:

Suffix -lako (subordinate, the most common)

verb + -lako

English	Basque
Because he/she/it has come	Etorri delako
Because I’m hungry	Goseak nagoelako (o gose naizelako)
Because it’s important	Garrantzitsua delako
Because I don’t like it	Ez zaidalako gustatzen

Etxean nago gaixorik nagoelako. — I’m at home because I’m sick.

Bilbora joaten naiz lana bertan dudalako. — I go to Bilbao because I have my job there.

Conjunction zeren (at the beginning of the clause)

English	Basque
Because it is important	…, zeren garrantzitsua baita
…, since he/she/it has come	…, zeren etorri baita

This is the “Latin-style” way of expressing cause, more formal or journalistic. In speech, -lako is preferred.

Mini-debate

— Olatz, uste dut Bilbo Donostia baino interesgarriagoa dela.

— Ez nago ados. Donostia askoz politagoa da, uste dut, itsasoa duelako ondoan.

— Egia da itsasoa duela, baina Bilbon museo gehiago daudela ere egia da.

— Bai, baina iruditzen zait giroa, kalea, jendea… Donostian goxoagoak direla. Eta Donostiako pintxoak Bilbokoak baino hobeak direla ere bai!

Useful structures in a list

English	Basque
I think it’s important	Garrantzitsua dela uste dut
I know he/she is right	Arrazoia duela badakit
I don’t think they will come	Ez dut uste etorriko direnik
It’s clear that he/she has problems	Argi dago arazoak dituela
Because he/she is sick	Gaixorik dagoelako
Because it’s cold	Hotz egiten duelako

Common pitfalls

1. Don’t forget the two sides: -ela in the affirmative, -enik in a negative opinion.
2. The suffix -ela attaches to the conjugated verb, not the participle: etorriko da → etorriko dela.
3. Some languages (Spanish, for example) switch to the subjunctive to express doubt, but in Basque there’s no such sharp distinction: uste dut ondo dagoela (I think it’s okay) and zalantza dut ondo dagoenik (I doubt that it’s okay) use different forms, but there isn’t a formal “subjunctive” mode.

Teaching note: the formula Nire ustez + clause + -lako + clause is probably the most useful A2-level tool for giving and arguing an opinion. Model example:

Nire ustez euskara ikastea garrantzitsua da gure herriaren hizkuntza delako. (“In my opinion, learning Basque is important because it is the language of our people”.)