Days and Times of Day

Level 1

Say on Monday with astelehenean and in the morning with goizean. The words gaur (today), bihar (tomorrow) and atzo (yesterday) take no ending.

How It Works

The days of the week are written with a small letter:

  • astelehena Monday, asteartea Tuesday, asteazkena Wednesday
  • osteguna Thursday, ostirala Friday
  • larunbata Saturday, igandea Sunday

They are listed here with the article -a, as nouns. That is how you name the day: Gaur asteazkena da (Today is Wednesday).

On a day. To say when something happens, use -an after a vowel or -ean after a consonant (gau, night, also takes -ean: gauean). It is the same ending as in etxean (at home): igandean (on Sunday), astelehenean (on Monday), larunbatean (on Saturday). See inessive -n.

Habits. The plural ending -etan means on that day every week: Larunbatetan mendira joaten gara (On Saturdays we go to the mountains). The weekend works the same way: asteburuan (at the weekend).

Parts of the day take the same endings:

  • goiza morning, goizean in the morning
  • eguerdia noon, eguerdian at noon
  • arratsaldea afternoon, arratsaldean in the afternoon
  • iluntzea evening, iluntzean in the evening
  • gaua night, gauean at night (also gauez, by night)

No ending. gaur (today), bihar (tomorrow), atzo (yesterday), etzi (the day after tomorrow) and herenegun (the day before yesterday) are adverbs. Use them just as they are: Bihar etorriko naiz. They combine with the other words: gaur goizean (this morning), bihar arratsaldean (tomorrow afternoon), atzo gauean (last night).

To pair a part of the day with a clock time, use -ko: goizeko zortzietan (at eight in the morning). See zer ordu da?. Months, dates and seasons come in dates, months and seasons, and egunero (every day) in -ero, duela and barru.

Examples (6)

  1. Gaur ostirala da.

    Today is Friday.

    Word by Word: Today Friday-the is.

    Naming the day: the article -a and no -an.

  2. Astelehenean Bilbora joango naiz.

    I will go to Bilbao on Monday.

  3. Larunbatetan mendira joaten gara.

    On Saturdays we go to the mountains.

    The plural -etan shows a weekly habit.

  4. Bihar goizean etorriko naiz.

    I will come tomorrow morning.

    bihar has no ending; goizean does.

  5. Arratsaldean euskara ikasten dut.

    I study Basque in the afternoon.

  6. Gauean irakurtzen dut.

    I read at night.

Common Mistakes

  • Leaving the day without -an when you mean on that day.

    Asteartea etorriko naiz.
    Asteartean etorriko naiz.

    Asteartea just names Tuesday. To say on Tuesday, add the ending: asteartean.

  • Adding an ending to gaur, bihar or atzo.

    Biharrean etorriko naiz.
    Bihar etorriko naiz.

    gaur, bihar and atzo are adverbs and already mean today, tomorrow and yesterday.

  • Capitalizing days of the week.

    Gaur Ostirala da.
    Gaur ostirala da.

    Basque writes weekdays, months and seasons with a small letter, unless they start a sentence.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Days and Times of DayLevel 1

Learn This First

Days and times of day use the inessive.

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Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

biharatzo