My day (describe your routine)

This lesson brings together everything from the unit: time, times of the day, routine verbs, and frequency. The goal is for you to be able to describe your entire day in Basque from start to finish.

The key question: “Zer ordutan…?”

Question	English
Zer ordutan esnatzen zara?	What time do you wake up?
Zer ordutan jaikitzen zara?	What time do you get up?
Zer ordutan gosaltzen duzu?	What time do you have breakfast?
Zer ordutan bazkaltzen duzu?	What time do you have lunch?
Zer ordutan ateratzen zara etxetik?	What time do you leave home?
Zer ordutan afaltzen duzu?	What time do you have dinner?
Zer ordutan oheratzen zara?	What time do you go to bed?

Pay attention to the change in auxiliary verb: esnatzen zara (NOR), but gosaltzen duzu (NOR-NORK). It’s up to you to start noticing the verb + auxiliary pair.

”At X o’clock” — how to say it

To answer “at (time)”, take the plural form of the hour and change -ak to -etan (with an -e- inserted, except for those already ending in a vowel):

Time	”At…“
zazpiak (seven o’clock)	zazpietan
zortziak	zortzietan
hamarrak	hamarretan
hamabiak	hamabietan
ordu bata (one o’clock)	ordu batean (singular, keeps its form)
ordu biak	ordu bietan
bost eta erdiak	bost eta erdietan (at half past five)
zortziak laurden gutxi	zortziak laurden gutxitan (at a quarter to eight)

A full day — example

Read this example text and notice how all the pieces connect:

Ni goizeko zazpietan esnatzen naiz. Poliki-poliki altxatzen naiz eta komunera joaten naiz. Dutxa bat hartzen dut, arropa janzten dut eta sukaldera joaten naiz. Sukaldean gosaria prestatzen dut eta lasai-lasai gosaltzen dut. Ondoren, etxetik ateratzen naiz eta lanera joaten naiz. Eguerdiko ordu bietan bazkaltzen dut. Arratsaldean batzuetan zinemara joaten naiz, beste batzuetan lagunekin egoten naiz. Gauean, etxean afaltzen dut, telebista ikusten dut eta hamaiketan oheratzen naiz.

Rough translation:

I wake up at seven in the morning. I get up slowly and go to the bathroom. I take a shower, get dressed, and go to the kitchen. In the kitchen, I prepare breakfast and have breakfast calmly. Afterwards, I leave home and go to work. I have lunch at two in the afternoon. In the evening, I sometimes go to the cinema, other times I’m with friends. At night, I have dinner at home, watch TV, and go to bed at eleven.

Build your own

Follow this template with your own information. It’s the best way to solidify what you’ve learned:

1. What time you wake up: Goizeko ___etan esnatzen naiz.
2. What you do when you get up: … dutxatzen naiz / gosaltzen dut / …
3. How you go to work or school: … oinez / autoz / autobusez joaten naiz.
4. What you do in the afternoon: Arratsaldean …
5. What time you have dinner and go to bed: Gaueko ___etan afaltzen dut eta ___etan oheratzen naiz.

Useful linking phrases

• Lehenengo — first
• Gero / Ondoren — then, after
• Eta gero — and then
• Azkenik — finally
• Egunero — every day
• Batzuetan / Beste batzuetan — sometimes / other times
• Beti — always
• Inoiz ez — never

Cultural note: In the Basque Country, many people have lunch (bazkaldu) between 14:00 and 15:00 and have dinner (afaldu) quite late, around 21:00-22:00. The Hamaiketakoa — the eleven o’clock snack, usually a pintxo or a small sandwich — is an institution. If you are with a cuadrilla and at 11h someone says hamaiketakoa egitera goaz, you know what it’s time for.