Greetings and goodbyes in Basque
18 words Basque words on the topic “greetings and goodbyes”: kaixo — hi, egun on — good morning, arratsalde on — good afternoon, gabon — good night.
18 words on the topic
- kaixohiThe all-hours greeting, morning or night. The natural next move is aupa — shouted in greeting and in approval alike
- egun ongood morningLiterally 'good day'. Said until lunchtime; egun itself is 'day'
- arratsalde ongood afternoonFor after lunch. Arratsalde is the second half of the day — the same word sits inside 'good evening'
- gabongood nightBoth a late-evening hello and a wish for the night — from gau on, 'good night'. The g here is a plain hard g
- agurgoodbyeThe farewell for everyone and every occasion — the word that stays with you after your first walk around Bilbao
- gero artesee you laterLiterally 'until later': gero is 'later', arte is 'until'. For someone you'll actually see again today
- nola zaude?how are you?Literally 'how do you find yourself?': zaude is a form of egon, so the question is about your state right now
- zer moduz?how's it going?Literally 'in what shape?'. Lighter and shorter than nola zaude — it suits anyone, any register
- Zorionak!congratulationsLiterally 'with good omens': zori + onak. The universal 'congrats' — for the holiday and the new purchase alike
- Zorionak urtebetetzearengatik!happy birthdayLiterally 'congratulations for the year-filling': urte + bete — wave 1 already counted the month as 'a full moon'. The suffix -engatik is 'on the occasion of'
- Zorte on!good luckLiterally 'good lot': zorte — 'lot, fate'. Said before an exam and before a journey alike
- Oso ondo!well doneThe same oso ondo as 'very well' from the basics, now as praise: 'well done'. Teachers say it a hundred times a day
- Ez kezkatu!don't worryFrom kezka — 'worry': 'un-worry yourself!'. The imperative is the bare root, like wave 1
- Barkatu atzeratzeagatik.sorry for being lateLiterally 'forgive for the being-late': atzeratu — 'to delay' + -zea + -gatik. Guilt here is 'because of the lateness'
- Nahi gabe egin dut.I didn't mean toLiterally 'I did it without wanting': nahi + gabe. Gabe — 'without' works with money too: dirurik gabe
- Ez da ezer.no problemLiterally 'it is nothing': ezer — 'anything' under negation. Forgiveness here is short, like 'it's fine, happens'
- besarkatuhugLiterally 'to take with the arms': beso — 'arm' + -arkatu. The hug here is 'taken into the arms', warm and simple
- Ni naiz erruduna.it's my faultLiterally 'I am the guilty one': errudun — 'in the share of the fault'. The admission goes through 'to be', straight, no hedging
How it sounds in a sentence
A word list is a blank. Conversation is made of sentences, and these are the ones the words fit into most often.
- Kaixo! Zer moduz asteburuan?Hi! How was the weekend?
- Egun on, okela irekita dago?Good morning, is the bakery open yet?
- Arratsalde on, mahaia al dago bi pertsonarentzat?Good afternoon, is there a table for two?
- Gabon, bihar arteGood night, see you tomorrow
- Agur, ondo ibili!Goodbye, take care!
- Orain noa. Gero arte!I'm off now. See you later!
What is worth knowing about these words
kaixo — hi. The all-hours greeting, morning or night. The natural next move is aupa — shouted in greeting and in approval alike
egun on — good morning. Literally 'good day'. Said until lunchtime; egun itself is 'day'
arratsalde on — good afternoon. For after lunch. Arratsalde is the second half of the day — the same word sits inside 'good evening'
gabon — good night. Both a late-evening hello and a wish for the night — from gau on, 'good night'. The g here is a plain hard g
Test yourself
Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than recognizing a familiar word — and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “hi” in Basque?
The all-hours greeting, morning or night. The natural next move is aupa — shouted in greeting and in approval alike
- How do you say “how's it going?” in Basque?
Literally 'in what shape?'. Lighter and shorter than nola zaude — it suits anyone, any register
- How do you say “I didn't mean to” in Basque?
Literally 'I did it without wanting': nahi + gabe. Gabe — 'without' works with money too: dirurik gabe
- How do you say “good night” in Basque?
Both a late-evening hello and a wish for the night — from gau on, 'good night'. The g here is a plain hard g
- How do you say “good luck” in Basque?
Literally 'good lot': zorte — 'lot, fate'. Said before an exam and before a journey alike
How to learn the set instead of just reading it
Every conversation starts here, and so does every first impression: say hello in the local language and you stop being a stranger in about a second.
A list is read in a minute and forgotten in a day. What works: hide the translation, try to recall, get it wrong — and come back to the same words tomorrow.
- Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
- This holds not only in experiments but in ordinary classrooms, with real students.checked many timesMawson & Kang, 2025, Behavioral Sciences 15(6):771 · 22 studies, d = 0.54 (confidence interval 0.31–0.77). The authors warn that individual studies disagree widely.
Frequently asked
How do you say “hi” in Basque?
«kaixo». The all-hours greeting, morning or night. The natural next move is aupa — shouted in greeting and in approval alike. It is one of 18 words in the set “greetings and goodbyes” — the rest are in the table above.
How many greetings do you need to start?
A dozen is enough. The set of 18 words on this page covers nearly every everyday case on the topic — but it is best taken a few at a time, not all at once.