Aiton-amonak (grandparents)

Grandparents in Basque are aitona (grandfather) and amona (grandmother). In the plural, the combined form aiton-amonak is preferred, which means “grandparents” (both together).

Vocabulary

Euskera	English
aitona	grandfather
amona	grandmother
aiton-amonak	grandparents (both)
biloba	grandson/granddaughter
bilobak	grandchildren

The “X-Y-ak” pattern

Basque has an elegant way of talking about pairs/groups of the same type by combining both terms in the plural:

• anai-arrebak — brothers and sisters
• aiton-amonak — grandparents
• seme-alabak — sons and daughters

When you want to say “my grandparents came home,” it’s enough to say Nire aiton-amonak etxera etorri ziren — without having to say “grandfather and grandmother”.

Useful phrases

• Nire aitona Ekaitz da. — My grandfather is Ekaitz.
• Amona oso atsegina da. — The grandmother is very kind.
• Bi biloba ditu. — He/She has two grandchildren.