Appointments and commitments (hitzorduak)

A living schedule is full of appointments and commitments. This lesson teaches you how to talk about them: having an appointment, meeting up with someone, saying whether you’re free.

Key vocabulary

Basque	English
hitzordua	appointment (an agreed time with someone)
bilera	meeting
errebisioa	check-up (medical, dental)
medikua	the doctor
dentista	dentist
kontsulta	consultation

Having an appointment or meeting

For “I have X” you use the verb ukan (dut, du, dugu, ...):

• Bilera dut. — I have a meeting.
• Hitzordua dut medikuarekin. — I have an appointment with the doctor.
• Errebisioa du semearekin. — He/She has a check-up with his/her son.

If you want to specify the time, you simply add it at the beginning or the end: Bostetan bilera dut / Bilera dut bostetan.

Meeting up with someone — geratu + -ekin

Geratu means “to meet up”, and combined with the sociative -ekin (with):

Pattern	Example	English
X-ekin geratu naiz	Egoitzekin geratu naiz	I’ve met up with Egoitz
X-ekin geratuko naiz	Egoitzekin geratuko naiz	I’ll meet up with Egoitz

The suffix -ekin attaches to the name. If it ends in a consonant you add -ekin: Mikel + ekin = Mikelekin, Maialenekin. If it ends in a vowel you add -rekin: Garazirekin, Anerekin.

Agreeing on the time

Typical phrases for pinning things down:

• Zer ordutan geratuko gara? — What time shall we meet up?
• Bostetan ondo? — Five o’clock okay?
• Sei eta erdietan geratuko gara. — We’ll meet up at half past six.
• Bederatziak aldera. — Around nine.
• Hamabietan. — At twelve.

Aldera = “around”, “about”. Very handy when you don’t want to commit to an exact time.

Accepting and turning down

Yes	No / excuse
Bai, ondo!	Ezin dut, beste plan bat dut.
Ados!	Ezin dut, lanpetuta nago.
Ederki!	Ezin dut, beste afari bat dudalako.
Konforme!	Beste egun batean, mesedez.

Being free / busy

• Libre nago. — I’m free.
• Ordu hori libre dut. — I have that hour free.
• Lanpetuta nago. — I’m busy.
• Gauza asko egin behar ditut. — I have a lot of things to do.

Mini-dialogue

— Aizu, kafe bat hartuko dugu bihar?

— Bai, oso ondo. Zer ordutan geratuko gara?

— Bostak aldera ondo?

— Ezin dut bostetan, dentista dut. Sei eta erdietan?

— Ederki, sei eta erdietan tabernan.

Giving excuses with -elako

When you turn something down, the natural thing is to give the reason with the suffix -elako (because):

• Ezin dut, lan egin behar dudalako. — I can’t, because I have to work.
• Ezin dut, gaixorik nagoelako. — I can’t, because I’m ill.
• Ezin dut, amarekin egon behar dudalako. — I can’t, because I have to be with my mother.

Cultural note: in euskaltegis and formal settings hitzordua is reserved for specific appointments (doctor, hairdresser). Among friends it’s more natural to use geratu + -ekin, without the word hitzordua unless you want to stress that it’s something formal.