Meals of the day (otorduak)

Each meal of the day has its own name in Basque, and knowing them will help you talk about your daily routine. There is also a specifically Basque meal that has no direct equivalent in English: the hamaiketako.

The five meals of the day

Basque	English	When
gosaria	breakfast	morning
hamaiketakoa	mid-morning snack	around 11 a.m.
bazkaria	meal (the main one)	1 p.m.–2 p.m.
askaria	afternoon snack	afternoon
afaria	dinner	night

Hamaiketakoa literally means “the one of eleven” (hamaika = eleven). It’s the typical Basque mid-morning break: a pintxo, a coffee or a zurito with something to eat. It’s not a big breakfast nor a full meal; it’s something in between, eaten out and about, in the tavern, with coworkers or your cuadrilla (group of friends).

Verbs: jan, edan and the specific ones

Basque	English
jan	to eat (general)
edan	to drink
gosaldu	to have breakfast
bazkaldu	to have the midday meal
afaldu	to have dinner

There are specific verbs for each meal (just like English “to have breakfast / lunch / dinner”). At A1 you’ll recognize them more than conjugate them — for now it’s enough to know they exist.

Hunger and thirst

To say “I’m hungry” / “I’m thirsty” in Basque you don’t use the verb “to have” (as in Spanish or French), but the verb izan (“to be”):

• Gose naiz. — I’m hungry. (literally: “I am hungry”)
• Egarri naiz. — I’m thirsty. (literally: “I am thirsty”)
• Maialen gose da. — Maialen is hungry.
• Gu egarri gara. — We are thirsty.

This construction may surprise you. In Basque, physical sensations such as hunger, thirst and sleepiness are often expressed with izan + adjective, as if they were a state of being. You’ll also see it with logura naiz (I’m sleepy). Note: “I’m cold” does not follow this pattern — you say hotzak nago, with egon.

Common phrases

• Goizean gosaria hartzen dut. — In the morning I have breakfast (literally: “I take breakfast”).
• Hamaiketakoa egiten dugu lankideekin. — We have the hamaiketako with our coworkers.
• Etxean bazkaltzen dut. — I have lunch at home.
• Afari ona prestatu dugu. — We’ve prepared a good dinner.
• Gose naiz, zer dago jateko? — I’m hungry, what is there to eat?

Cultural note: meal times in Euskal Herria are usually similar to the rest of the peninsula: an early breakfast, hamaiketako around eleven, bazkaria around 2 p.m.–3 p.m., an afternoon snack around 6 p.m., and dinner at 9 p.m. or later.