Days of the week and activities

Before talking about plans and schedules, let’s review the days of the week and learn to associate them with everyday activities.

The seven days

Basque	English	Hint
astelehena	Monday	aste + lehen = “first day of the week”
asteartea	Tuesday	aste + arte = “midweek”
asteazkena	Wednesday	aste + azken = “last day of the working week” (hist.)
osteguna	Thursday	egun = day
ostirala	Friday	shares the root ortzi/osti- (sky) with osteguna
larunbata	Saturday	larun + bata
igandea	Sunday	historical feast day

Memory hint: the word aste (week) appears at the beginning of the weekdays. Astelehen-, astear-, asteazken- almost spell out aloud the beginning, middle and end of the week.

Saying “on Monday” — the suffix -(e)an

To date an event, you add -(e)an to the day:

Day	”On + day”
astelehena	astelehenean
asteartea	asteartean
asteazkena	asteazkenean
osteguna	ostegunean
ostirala	ostiralean
larunbata	larunbatean
igandea	igandean

• Astelehenean lan egiten dut. — I work on Monday.
• Larunbatean afaltzera joango gara. — On Saturday we will go out for dinner.

Saying “every X” — the suffix -ero

For regular frequency:

• astelehenero — every Monday
• larunbatero — every Saturday
• egunero — every day
• astero — every week
• astebururo — every weekend

Day + activity: examples

Basque	English
Astelehenean kiroldegira noa.	On Monday I go to the gym.
Asteartean euskara klasea dut.	On Tuesday I have a Basque class.
Ostiralean parranda egiten dugu.	On Friday we go out partying.
Larunbatean familiaren etxera joango naiz.	On Saturday I will go to the family’s house.
Igandean lasai gelditzen naiz etxean.	On Sunday I stay home and relax.

Asteburua — the weekend

Asteburua (weekend) is a very useful word:

• Asteburuan zer egingo duzu? — What are you going to do on the weekend?
• Asteburu honetan mendira joango naiz. — This weekend I will go to the mountains.
• Asteburu pasa egitea gustatzen zait. — I like to take weekend getaways.

Cultural note: alongside igandea you will often see jaieguna (holiday/feast day): the phrase igandeak eta jaiegunak is typical on bus timetables, shops and town-hall notices.