Family and Relationships in Basque

Overview

Family vocabulary is essential at the A1 level because talking about your family is one of the first things you do when meeting people. Basque family terms have some unique features — notably, the language distinguishes between siblings based on the speaker's gender. A brother's sister is arreba, while a sister's sister is ahizpa. This distinction reflects traditional Basque social structure.

The core family words are: aita (father), ama (mother), anaia (brother), arreba/ahizpa (sister), seme (son), alaba (daughter), aitona (grandfather), amona (grandmother). These combine naturally with possessive pronouns like nire (my), zure (your), and haren (his/her).

Talking about family gives you excellent practice with the genitive case, possessive constructions, and the verb izan for identity statements.

How It Works

Core family vocabulary:

Basque	English	Basque	English
aita	father	ama	mother
anaia	brother	arreba	sister (of a brother)
seme	son	ahizpa	sister (of a sister)
alaba	daughter	senarra	husband
aitona	grandfather	emaztea	wife
amona	grandmother	laguna	friend / partner
osaba	uncle	izeba	aunt
lehengusua	cousin	iloba	nephew/niece/grandchild

Possessive pronouns (genitive):

Basque	English
nire	my
zure	your
haren	his/her
gure	our
zuen	your (pl.)
haien	their

Pattern: possessive + family noun + article → nire aita (my father), nire amaren izena (my mother's name)

Examples in Context

Basque	English	Note
Nire aita irakaslea da.	My father is a teacher.	Possessive + family + profession
Bi anai eta arreba bat ditut.	I have two brothers and a sister.	Speaker is male (arreba)
Nire amaren izena Miren da.	My mother's name is Miren.	Double genitive
Aitonak ipuinak kontatzen dizkigu.	Grandfather tells us stories.	Ergative subject
Zure familia handia da?	Is your family big?	Question
Nire ahizpak Bilbon bizi da.	My sister lives in Bilbao.	Speaker is female (ahizpa)
Haren senarra medikua da.	Her husband is a doctor.	Third person possessive
Gure alabak bost urte ditu.	Our daughter is five years old.	Age expression
Osaba Patxi Donostian bizi da.	Uncle Patxi lives in Donostia.	With proper name
Zenbat anai-arreba dituzu?	How many siblings do you have?	Common question

Common Mistakes

Confusing arreba and ahizpa

• Wrong: A woman saying nire arreba for "my sister"
• Right: A woman says nire ahizpa; a man says nire arreba
• Why: Arreba is used by a male speaker referring to his sister. Ahizpa is used by a female speaker referring to her sister. In modern usage, this distinction is sometimes simplified, but it remains standard.

Forgetting the genitive for possession

• Wrong: Ni aita irakaslea da.
• Right: Nire aita irakaslea da.
• Why: To express "my," use the genitive form nire, not the plain pronoun ni.

Using the wrong number agreement with family members

• Wrong: Nire gurasoak medikua da.
• Right: Nire gurasoak medikuak dira.
• Why: Gurasoak (parents) is plural, so the verb must be plural too: dira, not da.

Practice Tips

1. Draw your family tree and label each person with their Basque family term. Practice introducing each person: Hau nire aita da. Haren izena Mikel da.
2. Practice the question Zenbat anai-arreba dituzu? and prepare your own answer. Then ask about other people's families using the same patterns.

Related Concepts

• Personal Pronouns