Hair and eyes (ile eta begiak)

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

Hair: ile

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

Euskera	English
ile beltza	black hair
ile horia	blond hair
ile zuria	white / gray hair
ile gorria	red hair
ile urdina	gray 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 like in Spanish. That’s why you use dut / du (not ditut / ditu).

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

Eyes: begiak

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

Euskera	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 -dun suffix

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

Euskera	English
betaurrekoduna	with glasses / the one with glasses
bizarduna	with a beard
biboteduna	with a mustache
burusoila	bald (literally “peeled head”)

These ones do go with izan, because they describe a quality, like an adjective:

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

Putting it all together

A typical description 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 and curly hair. She has green eyes. She wears glasses.

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