Describing People in Basque

In Brief

Basque normally puts a descriptive adjective after the noun: ile beltza “black hair,” literally “hair black.” Use izan (“to be”) for qualities—Ane alaia da “Ane is cheerful”—and forms of ukan (“to have”) for features someone has: Begi urdinak ditu “She/He has blue eyes.” Basque adjectives do not change for masculine or feminine gender.

Overview

Describing a person in Basque brings together everyday vocabulary and two basic sentence patterns. For height, build, age, and character, you normally say that somebody is a quality. For hair, eyes, a beard, or other features, you often say that somebody has them. These patterns let you move beyond isolated adjectives and give a short, natural description.

This is an A2 topic, but it builds directly on basic Basque adjectives. An adjective (a word that gives a quality, such as “tall” or “cheerful”) usually follows the noun in Basque. It has no masculine–feminine contrast: altua can describe a man, a woman, or anyone else. What does matter is number and definiteness, shown near the end of the noun phrase.

English speakers need to reverse one strong habit. English says “brown eyes,” but Basque says begi marroiak, literally “eyes brown.” Basque can also leave the subject unspoken when the context already identifies the person, so a description does not need to repeat “he” or “she” in every sentence.

How It Works

1. Saying what someone is: adjective + izan

The simplest pattern uses izan, “to be”:

person + adjective + form of izan

• Mikel altua da. — Mikel is tall.
• Nire ahizpa atsegina da. — My sister is pleasant.
• Haiek langileak dira. — They are hardworking.

Here da means “is,” while dira means “are.” In a present-tense description, the common forms are:

Subject	Form	Example
one person	da	Irati alaia da. — Irati is cheerful.
several people	dira	Nire lagunak alaiak dira. — My friends are cheerful.

The adjective used as the description normally appears with -a in the singular and -ak in the plural:

Basic adjective	Singular description	Plural description	Meaning
altu	altua	altuak	tall
argal	argala	argalak	thin, slim
alai	alaia	alaiak	cheerful
langile	langilea	langileak	hardworking

Do not read the final -a as part of every dictionary form. It is often the definite ending attached to the adjective at the edge of the phrase. This is why vocabulary lists may give altu, while a complete sentence has altua da.

2. Putting an adjective after a noun

Inside a noun phrase (a noun together with words that describe or identify it), the usual order is:

noun + adjective + ending

Basque	Literal order	Natural English
gizon altua	man tall-the	the tall man
emakume alaia	woman cheerful-the	the cheerful woman
begi urdinak	eyes blue-the	blue eyes
ile luzea	hair long-the	long hair

The definite singular ending is generally -a, and the definite plural ending is -ak. The ending is carried at the end of the phrase: compare gizon-a “the man” with gizon altu-a “the tall man.”

With more than one adjective, eta means “and”:

• Nire laguna altua eta argala da. — My friend is tall and thin.
• Pertsona atsegina eta langilea da. — She/He is a pleasant and hardworking person.

For a beginner, it is safest to learn complete sentence chunks such as altua eta argala da. In a noun phrase containing coordinated adjectives, the phrase ending belongs at the end of the coordinated description: gizon altu eta argala “the tall, thin man.”

3. Saying what features someone has: du and ditu

Hair and eyes are commonly described with a form of ukan, “to have.” Basque verb forms can reflect the number of the direct object (the person or thing directly affected or possessed). This creates an important contrast:

Feature possessed	Verb	Example
singular or treated as one mass/item	du	Ile beltza du. — She/He has black hair.
plural	ditu	Begi marroiak ditu. — She/He has brown eyes.

The choice between du and ditu follows the feature, not the gender of the person. Ile “hair” is commonly treated as a mass or singular feature in this pattern, while begiak “eyes” is plural.

You can state the person explicitly:

• Leirek ile kizkurra du. — Leire has curly hair.
• Nire aitak begi berdeak ditu. — My father has green eyes.

Notice the endings on Leirek and aitak. Basque marks the subject of a transitive verb such as “have” with the ergative case—an ending that identifies the doer in this type of sentence. At A2, you can first memorize useful chunks like Nire lagunak ... du/ditu. If the person is already obvious, omitting the subject avoids this extra structure:

• Ile laburra du. — She/He has short hair.
• Begi handiak ditu. — She/He has big eyes.

4. Useful vocabulary

Area	Basque	English
height	altu / baxu	tall / short
build	argal / lodi	thin, slim / fat, thick
hair	ile luze / ile labur	long hair / short hair
hair	ile beltz / ile hori	black hair / blond hair
hair	ile kizkur / ile liso	curly hair / straight hair
eyes	begi urdin / berde / marroi	blue / green / brown eyes
character	atsegin	pleasant, nice
character	langile	hardworking
character	alai	cheerful
character	lasai	calm
character	lotsati	shy

These entries show the adjective without forcing one particular sentence ending. In an actual definite phrase, you will normally see forms such as ile luzea, begi urdinak, and pertsona lasaia.

5. Adding degree and softening a description

Put oso before the adjective to mean “very”:

• Oso atsegina da. — She/He is very pleasant.
• Oso altua da. — She/He is very tall.

Nahiko can mean “quite” or “fairly”:

• Nahiko lasaia da. — She/He is fairly calm.

Physical descriptions can be sensitive. Words such as lodia (“fat”) are grammatically ordinary but may sound blunt when applied directly to someone. In a real conversation, choose neutral, relevant details and follow the person’s own preferred wording.

6. Pronouns are often unnecessary

Basque does not grammatically distinguish “he” from “she” in the verb forms shown here. Hura can mean “that person,” “he,” or “she,” depending on context, but it is often omitted:

• Hura altua eta argala da. — He/She is tall and thin.
• Altua eta argala da. — He/She is tall and thin.

English requires a subject pronoun in the second translation; Basque does not. Use hura when pointing someone out, contrasting people, or removing ambiguity—not merely because English needs “he” or “she.”

Examples in Context

Basque	English	Note
Hura altua eta argala da.	He/She is tall and thin.	Hura identifies or contrasts the person.
Ile beltza eta begi marroiak ditu.	He/She has black hair and brown eyes.	Ditu agrees with the plural eyes; the coordinated objects make the plural form natural.
Oso atsegina da.	He/She is very pleasant.	The subject is understood from context.
Nire laguna langilea eta alaia da.	My friend is hardworking and cheerful.	Two character adjectives joined by eta.
Ane baxua da, baina bere anaia altua da.	Ane is short, but her brother is tall.	Baina introduces a contrast.
Jon lasaia eta atsegina da.	Jon is calm and pleasant.	A direct character description with da.
Ile luzea du.	She/He has long hair.	Singular or mass feature takes du.
Begi urdin handiak ditu.	She/He has big blue eyes.	Plural begiak takes ditu.
Nire amak ile kizkurra du.	My mother has curly hair.	The possessor is explicitly marked before du.
Gure irakaslea oso langilea da.	Our teacher is very hardworking.	Oso strengthens the adjective.
Bi lagunak alaiak dira.	The two friends are cheerful.	Plural adjective and plural dira.
Nor da emakume altu hori?	Who is that tall woman?	The adjective follows emakume; the demonstrative comes at the end.
Mutil ilehoria da.	He is a blond boy.	Ilehori is a common compound for a blond-haired person.
Ez da lotsatia; oso irekia da.	She/He is not shy; she/he is very open.	Ez makes the first description negative.

Common Mistakes

Putting the adjective before the noun

• Wrong: beltza ilea
• Right: ile beltza
• Why: Basque descriptive adjectives normally follow the noun. English order is the reverse: “black hair.”

Using a bare adjective in a complete description

• Wrong: Ane altu da.
• Right: Ane altua da.
• Why: In this ordinary singular predicate, the adjective takes the ending -a. Learn altua da as a complete unit, not just altu da.

Using da for something a person has

• Wrong: Begi urdinak da.
• Right: Begi urdinak ditu.
• Why: Eyes are features the person has, and begiak is plural. Use ditu, not “is.”

Using du with plural eyes

• Wrong: Begi marroiak du.
• Right: Begi marroiak ditu.
• Why: The possessed feature is plural, so the common form is ditu. Use du with singular or mass-like ilea: Ile marroia du.

Adding masculine or feminine adjective forms

• Wrong idea: looking for separate forms of altua for a man and a woman
• Right: Gizona altua da and Emakumea altua da.
• Why: Basque adjectives do not agree in grammatical gender. Number changes the form, but the person’s gender does not.

Repeating hura in every sentence

• Unnatural in many contexts: Hura altua da. Hura alaia da. Hura langilea da.
• More natural: Altua, alaia eta langilea da.
• Why: Once the person is clear, Basque can omit the pronoun. Repeating it may sound overly contrastive or mechanical.

Usage Notes

Descriptions often begin with an identifying noun phrase and then move to omitted subjects: Hau Maialen da. Oso alaia da eta ile luzea du. (“This is Maialen. She is very cheerful and has long hair.”) This is a natural way to avoid repeating a name or pronoun.

The adjective atsegina covers “pleasant,” “nice,” or “agreeable”; it does not always match every use of English “nice.” For a friendly personality, context and other words may be more precise. Likewise, baxua means “low” and can describe short height, while txikia more broadly means “small.” Use the vocabulary in a full situation rather than assuming a perfect one-to-one English equivalent.

Word choice varies across speakers and regions, as it does in English, especially for appearance and hair. The sentence patterns in this article are standard and widely useful even when a speaker chooses a different adjective.

Beyond the Basics

You do not need to master the following points at A2, but they explain forms you will meet later.

Basque case endings attach to the whole noun phrase, generally at its right edge. A case is an ending that shows the role of a noun phrase in the sentence. Compare gizon altua “the tall man” with gizon altuak begi urdinak ditu “the tall man has blue eyes.” In the second sentence, the final -k on altuak marks the possessor as the subject of the transitive verb ditu. This is why Basque endings may appear on the adjective rather than visibly on the noun.

The forms du and ditu also contain information about the person who has the feature and the feature possessed. With other persons, the auxiliary changes: Ile beltza dut means “I have black hair,” while Begi berdeak dituzu means “you have green eyes.” Later study of Basque auxiliary verbs will show the full system; for now, notice that English “have/has” is much less informative than the Basque form.

Descriptions can also use relative clauses (clauses that identify a person by an action), comparisons, and temporary states. These require structures beyond simple adjective descriptions. Keep the basic distinction clear first: stable or characteristic quality with izan, possessed feature with ukan.

Practice Tips

1. Build two-column portraits. For five people, write one da sentence about character or build and one du/ditu sentence about hair or eyes: Lasaia da. Ile laburra du.
2. Practise in chunks. Say altua da, ile beltza du, and begi marroiak ditu aloud. Chunks help you remember the adjective ending and the correct auxiliary together.
3. Describe without naming gender. Look at a photograph and give three Basque details without translating “he” or “she.” This trains the natural omission of an already understood subject.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Basic Adjectives — introduces adjective order and the singular and plural endings used in descriptions.
• Next step: Review forms of izan and ukan to describe different people and to change “she/he has” into “I have,” “you have,” or “they have.”
• Next step: Study comparisons and relative clauses to say “taller than,” “the person who…,” and other more detailed descriptions.