Basque is a very ancient language which is like no other. You’ll love finding out some words and being able to use them on your trip:
Ongi etorri means “welcome”. In the Basque Country we’re always delighted to see you.
This is “hello” in Basque, a strange-sounding word you’ll hear everywhere. Try saying it in a cheerful way to greet anybody you meet on your trip.
“Good morning”, “good afternoon”, “good evening” - in Basque we also have a greeting for each time of day. We even have one specially for midday, “Eguerdion”, which means something like “good midday”.
This means “Have a good time!” We want you to have a wonderful time in the Basque Country, not just enjoying our landscape, our coastline, our mountains and our towns, but also meeting us and experiencing our culture, festivities and traditions at first hand.
This is “Enjoy your meal” in Basque. As you know, a fine table is a key part of our culture. in the Basque Country, whether you’re at one of the colourful pintxo bars or in any of the restaurants which use top-quality ingredients... On Egin!!!, you’re sure to “Enjoy your meal.”
This means “congratulations”, and it’s what we say to people on their birthday or for any celebration. The famous song “Happy Birthday” is called “Zorionak zuri” on Basque.
Literally, this means “For many years” and it’s what you say when you’re introduced to or meet someone new, so it’s like saying “Pleased to meet you”. It’s also used after congratulations: “Zorionak, urte askotarako” means you want their happiness to last many years.
“Thank you very much”. If you’ve chosen us as your next destination and are even making the effort to learn a few words in Basque, then eskerrik asko, we really appreciate it.
This means “Another” and is often used at the end of a concert you liked, to ask the musicians to play an encore. You can also use it to ask for another pintxo or txikito at any bar!
This is “please”, and you can use it to ask for anything politely.
“Yes, of course”, is what “bai, noski” means. We’re a positive, enterprising people, but if what you need to say is “no”, we also have a word - “no” is “ez”.
This means “friend”, an important word in a country where personal relations are valued and experienced in a special way.
This is what we call the sea, which plays a starring role in our landscape and our history. It’s a word we like very much and, as in some other languages, it’s used as a girl’s name.
This is “fiesta” in Basque. Many of our customs and traditions are filled with it. Have you ever heard of “Marijaia”, the star of Semana Grande in Bilbao? Well, literally her name means “Party Mary”.
This means “champion”, literally “the one with the beret”. As you know, here the beret, or “txapela”, is a sign of distinction and the winner, whether in a game of pelota, a competition for bertsolaris of a food competition, gets the txapela.
These are the numbers in Basque: one, to, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten… days or more, that’s how long we want you to stay in the Basque Country.
This is a greeting you can use to say both hello and goodbye, but it’s mostly used to say goodbye. When you dome to the end of your stay in the Basque Country: Agur! We hope you’ll come back very soon.