LingoflyThe hotel and a hire car in Basque
Checking into the hotel and asking about a car in Basque. 6 phrases that the conversation is made of: «Egun on. Erreserba bat dut: Gomez abizena da.» — Good afternoon. I have a reservation: the name is Gomez; «Bai, hemen dago. Gela bikoitza da, bi gauez.» — Yes, here it is. A double room, for two nights. Every line can be played right on the page.
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: checking into the hotel and asking about a car. First the whole conversation, then each line on its own, with a translation.
- Yes, here it is. A double room, for two nights.
- Is breakfast included in the price?
- Yes, breakfast is included. The bus stop is opposite the hotel.
- On the next street there is a rental office. You have to bring your driver's license and an ID.
Lines one by one
| Basque | Translation |
|---|---|
| Egun on. Erreserba bat dut: Gomez abizena da. | Good afternoon. I have a reservation: the name is Gomez. |
| Bai, hemen dago. Gela bikoitza da, bi gauez. | Yes, here it is. A double room, for two nights. |
| Gosaria prezioan sartuta dago? | Is breakfast included in the price? |
| Bai, gosaria barne dago. Autobus-geltokia hotelaren aurrean dago. | Yes, breakfast is included. The bus stop is opposite the hotel. |
| Auto bat alokatu nahi dut biharko. Non egin dezaket? | I want to rent a car for tomorrow. Where can I do that? |
| Hurrengo kalean dago alokairu-bulegoa. Gidabaimena eta nortasun-agiria ekarri behar dituzu. | On the next street there is a rental office. You have to bring your driver's license and an ID. |
How to prepare for a conversation like this
Memorizing the lines is not enough: the other person will say their own thing, not what is written. What helps more is catching the key words by ear and keeping three rescue phrases ready: “I don't understand”, “repeat, please”, “slower”.
And one more thing phrasebooks do not mention: awkwardness gets in the way more than not knowing the words.
- Fear of making mistakes gets in the way of learning a language, and noticeably so. The link turns up study after study, and together those studies cover almost twenty thousand people.checked many timesTeimouri, Goetze & Plonsky, 2019, Studies in Second Language Acquisition 41(2) · 19,933 participants from 23 countries; correlation with results r = −0.36.
- That fear can be dealt with — the methods have been tested and they work.checked many timesXiong et al., 2024, Journal of Language and Social Psychology · 37 studies, anxiety reduced by −0.61. Of the seven conditions examined, only age turned out to matter.
Frequently asked
How do you start a conversation in Basque in this situation?
“Egun on. Erreserba bat dut: Gomez abizena da.” — Good afternoon. I have a reservation: the name is Gomez. The first line in such a conversation is almost always the same, and that is the one worth learning: the other person will carry it from there.
What if you did not understand the reply?
Say “I don't understand” and “repeat, please” — both are in the rescue set. Admitting your language is still shaky almost always makes the other person more patient.
Should you memorize the dialogue?
No. It is more useful to catch the key words by ear: the other person will say their own thing, and a memorized line will not always fit their reply.