Hair and eyes (ile eta begiak)

To describe hair and eyes in Basque you don’t use izan (“to be”) as in English (“I’m dark-haired”), but ukan (“to have”): I have black hair, I have blue eyes.

Hair: ile

The word for “hair” is ile (with the article: ilea). The adjectives go after it, and only the last one takes the -a ending:

Basque	English
ile beltza	black hair
ile horia	blond hair
ile zuria	white / grey hair
ile gorria	red hair
ile urdina	grey hair
ile motza	short hair
ile luzea	long hair
ile lisoa	straight hair
ile kizkurra	curly hair

In Basque, hair is treated as singular, just as it is in English. That is why you use dut / du (not ditut / ditu).

• Ile beltza eta luzea dut. — I have black, long hair.
• Maialenek ile kizkurra du. — Maialen has curly hair.

Eyes: begiak

Unlike hair, “the eyes” is plural (begiak). So the adjectives also go in the plural (-ak) and you use ditut / ditu:

Basque	English
begi urdinak	blue eyes
begi marroiak	brown eyes
begi berdeak	green eyes
begi beltzak	black eyes
begi argiak	light eyes
begi ilunak	dark eyes

• Begi urdinak ditut. — I have blue eyes.
• Mikelek begi marroiak ditu. — Mikel has brown eyes.

Other features: the suffix -dun

To say “who wears X” or “with X”, Basque has a very productive suffix: -duna (singular) / -dunak (plural). It is added to the noun and the person becomes “the one with the glasses”, “the one with the beard”…

Basque	English
betaurrekoduna	with glasses / the one with the glasses
bizarduna	with a beard
biboteduna	with a moustache
burusoila	bald (literally “bare head”)

These do take izan, because they describe a quality like an adjective:

• Hura biboteduna da. — He has a moustache.
• Nire aitona burusoila da. — My grandfather is bald.

Putting it all together

A typical portrait mixes several structures:

Maialen txikia eta argala da. Ile gorria eta kizkurra du. Begi berdeak ditu. Betaurrekoduna da.

Maialen is short and thin. She has red, curly hair. She has green eyes. She wears glasses.

Notice how it splits up: izan for general qualities (txikia da), ukan for hair/eyes (ile … du, begi … ditu), and -dun again with izan for the accessories.