Time and Dates in Basque

In Brief

Ask Zer ordu da? for “What time is it?” and answer Ordu bata da for one o’clock but Hirurak dira for three o’clock. A basic date puts the month before the day: urtarrilaren 15a (“January 15”), while urtarrilaren 15ean means “on January 15.” Days, months, and numbers therefore acquire different endings according to their role in the sentence.

Overview

Time and dates are an A1 topic, but they offer an early look at a central feature of Basque: endings carry information that English often expresses with separate words. English says “at three,” “on Monday,” and “on January 15.” Basque commonly marks these meanings directly on the time or date expression: hiruretan, astelehenean, and urtarrilaren 15ean.

The beginner goal is practical. You should be able to ask the time, give a whole hour, recognize common clock fractions, name the days and months, and understand a simple written date. You do not need to analyze every ending before using these phrases. Learn the most frequent forms as complete units, then notice the patterns.

Numbers are the foundation for this topic. Basque clock expressions do not simply place an unchanged number after a word equivalent to English “o’clock.” The number changes: hiru is “three,” hirurak is “three o’clock,” and hiruretan is “at three.” Dates have their own contrast between naming a date, locating an event on it, and using it to describe a noun.

How It Works

Asking and giving the hour

The standard question is:

• Zer ordu da? — What time is it?

Although ordu means “hour,” do not translate the expression word by word. Treat it as the normal way to ask the time. Answers use da (“is”) with the singular one-o’clock expression and dira (“are”) with the other hours.

Clock time	Basque	English
1:00	Ordu bata da.	It is one o’clock.
2:00	Biak dira.	It is two o’clock.
3:00	Hirurak dira.	It is three o’clock.
4:00	Laurak dira.	It is four o’clock.
5:00	Bostak dira.	It is five o’clock.
6:00	Seiak dira.	It is six o’clock.
7:00	Zazpiak dira.	It is seven o’clock.
8:00	Zortziak dira.	It is eight o’clock.
9:00	Bederatziak dira.	It is nine o’clock.
10:00	Hamarrak dira.	It is ten o’clock.
11:00	Hamaikak dira.	It is eleven o’clock.
12:00	Hamabiak dira.	It is twelve o’clock.

Several forms involve more than attaching -ak mechanically: hiru → hirurak, lau → laurak, and hamar → hamarrak. It is safer to learn the whole clock series aloud.

Saying “at” a time

To say when something happens, Basque uses the inessive case (an ending that can express being “in,” “at,” or “on” a place or time). For whole hours, the common forms are:

Time	Basque “at …”	Example
at one	ordu batean	Ordu batean bazkaltzen dut. — I eat lunch at one.
at two	ordu bietan	Ordu bietan hasiko da. — It will start at two.
at three	hiruretan	Hiruretan etorriko naiz. — I will come at three.
at four	lauretan	Lauretan amaitzen da. — It ends at four.
at seven	zazpietan	Zazpietan jaikitzen naiz. — I get up at seven.
at twelve	hamabietan	Hamabietan elkartuko gara. — We will meet at twelve.

English uses the same number in “three” and “at three”; Basque does not. Compare Hirurak dira (“It is three”) with Hiruretan hasten da (“It starts at three”).

Minutes, quarters, and halves

For a time after the hour, eta means “and/past.” Laurden is “quarter,” and erdi is “half.” For a time approaching the next hour, gutxi (“less”) counts back from that next hour.

Time	Common Basque expression	Literal shape
3:05	Hirurak eta bost dira.	three and five
3:15	Hirurak eta laurden dira.	three and a quarter
3:30	Hiru eta erdiak dira.	three and a half
3:45	Laurak laurden gutxi dira.	four, a quarter less
3:55	Laurak bost gutxi dira.	four, five less

This resembles English “quarter past” and “quarter to,” but the word order differs. Most importantly, the “less” construction names the coming hour: 3:45 is expressed relative to four. Digital-style readings and some details of fraction expressions vary in actual speech, so beginners should first master the patterns above and learn locally preferred alternatives from speakers around them.

To ask at what time an event occurs, use Zer ordutan? (“At what time?”):

• Zer ordutan hasten da filma? — What time does the film start?
• Zortzietan. — At eight.

Parts of the day

A clock time can be clarified with a part of the day. Common forms include goizean (“in the morning”), arratsaldean (“in the afternoon”), iluntzean (“in the evening/at dusk”), and gauean (“at night”). Basque also has eguerdia for noon and gauerdia for midnight.

• Goizeko bederatziak dira. — It is nine in the morning.
• Gaueko hamaiketan etxera noa. — I go home at eleven at night.
• Eguerdian bazkaltzen dugu. — We eat lunch at noon.
• Gauerdian amaitu da. — It ended at midnight.

Here goizeko and gaueko describe the hour, roughly “of the morning/night,” whereas goizean and gauean can stand as time expressions in their own right.

Days of the week

English	Basque	“on …”
Monday	astelehena	astelehenean
Tuesday	asteartea	asteartean
Wednesday	asteazkena	asteazkenean
Thursday	osteguna	ostegunean
Friday	ostirala	ostiralean
Saturday	larunbata	larunbatean
Sunday	igandea	igandean

Use Gaur astelehena da for “Today is Monday.” When English uses “on” before a day, Basque normally uses the ending shown in the third column: Astelehenean lan egiten dut (“I work on Monday”). Day names are not normally capitalized in the middle of a sentence, unlike English day names.

Useful calendar words include gaur (“today”), atzo (“yesterday”), bihar (“tomorrow”), astea (“week”), hilabetea (“month”), and urtea (“year”).

Months

English	Basque	English	Basque
January	urtarrila	July	uztaila
February	otsaila	August	abuztua
March	martxoa	September	iraila
April	apirila	October	urria
May	maiatza	November	azaroa
June	ekaina	December	abendua

Like day names, month names are generally lowercase within a sentence.

Building a date

A standalone date follows this pattern:

month + -ren + day + -a

The -ren ending is the genitive case (an ending showing a relationship similar to English “of”). Thus urtarrilaren 15a has the underlying sense “the 15th of January.”

Function	Basque	English
Name the date	urtarrilaren 15a	January 15 / the 15th of January
Say when	urtarrilaren 15ean	on January 15
Describe a noun	urtarrilaren 15eko bilera	the January 15 meeting
Include the year	2026ko urtarrilaren 15a	January 15, 2026
Include year and “on”	2026ko urtarrilaren 15ean	on January 15, 2026

The final ending changes with the job of the date. -a names it; -ean locates an event on it; -ko lets it describe something else. This explains short calendar labels such as 1eko, 2ko, or 15eko: they mean “of/on the 1st, 2nd, or 15th” in relation to an understood item, not simply a complete spoken date.

To ask the date, use Zer egun da gaur? (“What day/date is it today?”) or, when asking for a numbered calendar date, Zenbata da gaur? (“What date is it today?”). A natural answer can be Gaur urtarrilaren 15a da.

Examples in Context

Basque	English	Note
Zer ordu da?	What time is it?	Standard time question
Ordu bata da.	It is one o’clock.	Singular da
Hirurak dira.	It is three o’clock.	Plural dira
Hirurak eta laurden dira.	It is quarter past three.	Time after the hour
Laurak bost gutxi dira.	It is five to four.	Counts back from four
Zer ordutan hasten da bilera?	What time does the meeting start?	Asks “at what time”
Bilera hamarretan hasten da.	The meeting starts at ten.	Whole-hour “at” form
Gaur astelehena da.	Today is Monday.	Names today’s day
Ostiralean ez dut lan egiten.	I do not work on Friday.	“On Friday”
Bihar larunbata da.	Tomorrow is Saturday.	bihar = tomorrow
Nire urtebetetzea maiatzean da.	My birthday is in May.	Month with “in” meaning
Gaur urtarrilaren 15a da.	Today is January 15.	Standalone date form
Ekainaren 29an etorriko dira.	They will come on June 29.	Date used as “on”
2026ko irailaren 3ko bilera bertan behera geratu da.	The September 3, 2026 meeting has been cancelled.	Date describes bilera
Goizeko zazpietan jaikitzen naiz.	I get up at seven in the morning.	Daily-routine expression

Common Mistakes

Using da with every hour

• Wrong: Hirurak da.
• Right: Hirurak dira.
• Why: The clock form for three is grammatically plural, so it takes dira. One o’clock is the special singular expression Ordu bata da.

Adding -ak without learning the changed stem

• Wrong: Hiruak dira.
• Right: Hirurak dira.
• Why: Some number stems change before the clock ending. Memorize hirurak, laurak, and hamarrak as whole forms.

Reusing the clock-answer form after “at”

• Wrong: Hirurak hasten da.
• Right: Hiruretan hasten da.
• Why: Hirurak answers “What time is it?” The ending in hiruretan answers “At what time?”

Copying English date order and endings

• Wrong: 15 urtarrila for “January 15.”
• Right: urtarrilaren 15a
• Why: A standard Basque date puts the month first in the -ren form and marks the numbered day.

Confusing a named date with “on” that date

• Wrong: Urtarrilaren 15a etorriko naiz.
• Right: Urtarrilaren 15ean etorriko naiz.
• Why: Use -a to identify the date, but -ean when the date tells when an action occurs.

Capitalizing days and months like English

• Wrong: Gaur Astelehena da.
• Right: Gaur astelehena da.
• Why: Basque normally writes day and month names in lowercase unless they begin a sentence.

Usage Notes

Basque time expressions may appear in twelve-hour or twenty-four-hour settings. Timetables, tickets, and screens often use numerical forms such as 14:30, while ordinary conversation favors spoken hour-and-minute patterns. Add goizeko, arratsaldeko, or gaueko when the context does not make the part of the day clear.

The forms in this article follow standard Basque. Everyday speech varies by region, especially in how speakers phrase halves, quarters, and exact digital times. Such variation does not change the beginner essentials: recognize eta for time after the hour, gutxi for time before the next hour, and the difference between stating an hour and saying “at” that hour.

English often allows a bare day in schedules: “The class is Monday.” In careful Basque, distinguish Astelehena da (“It is Monday”) from Astelehenean da (“It is on Monday”). The ending tells you whether Monday is being identified or used as the time of an event.

Beyond the Basics

You do not need to master every date ending at A1, but later you will see a date behave like a larger noun phrase. Its final ending depends on its relationship to the rest of the sentence:

• abenduaren 6a — December 6, naming the date
• abenduaren 6an — on December 6
• abenduaren 6ko jaia — the celebration on/of December 6
• abenduaren 6tik 8ra — from December 6 to 8

The same principle applies to years. The form before a month commonly ends in -ko, as in 2026ko uztaila (“July 2026”) and 2026ko uztailaren 4an (“on July 4, 2026”). Pronunciation and spelling of the suffix can depend on the final sound of a number when it is written out; fixed written date models are therefore more reliable than inventing forms from an English template.

You will also meet habitual time expressions. Astelehenean can mean “on Monday” in a particular context, while plurallike forms and words such as astelehenero express repetition (“every Monday”). Similarly, goizean may mean “in the morning,” and goizero means “every morning.” These belong naturally with the later topic of daily routines.

Finally, Basque endings can stack across a date. In 2026ko urtarrilaren 15eko bilera, 2026ko modifies the larger month-and-day expression, urtarrilaren links January to the numbered day, and 15eko makes the whole date modify bilera. Beginners can use the phrase as a model; advanced learners can analyze each layer.

Practice Tips

1. Build a three-form clock drill. Pick an hour and say the number, the clock answer, and the “at” form: hiru → hirurak dira → hiruretan. Repeat with four, seven, and ten.
2. Change one date through three jobs. Write martxoaren 8a, martxoaren 8an, and martxoaren 8ko ekitaldia. Say what changes: “March 8,” “on March 8,” and “the March 8 event.”
3. Use your real calendar. Each morning say the weekday, date, and one appointment aloud: Gaur asteartea da. Uztailaren 11a da. Bilera bederatzietan da. Real information is easier to remember than isolated lists.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Numbers and Counting — supplies the number forms used for hours, minutes, days, and years.
• Next step: Daily Routine — combines time expressions with everyday actions such as getting up, eating, and going to work.