The rooms of the house

Let’s start with the most basic part of any home: the rooms. The general word for “room / hall” is gela, and most names for rooms are formed by combining a root with -gela.

Basic Vocabulary

Basque	English
etxea	the house
pisua	the flat / apartment (a home in a building)
gela	room / hall
sukaldea	kitchen
logela	bedroom
komuna	bathroom
egongela	living room
sarrera	entrance
korridorea / pasabidea	hallway / corridor
balkoia	balcony
terraza	terrace

How some names are formed

Basque is very transparent with these words. If you look at how they’re composed, you’ll remember them better:

• logela → lo (sleep) + gela (room) = “sleep room” → bedroom
• egongela → egon (to be) + gela = “being room” → living room
• sukaldea → su (fire) + aldea (area) = “fire area” → kitchen

Komuna and bainugela are synonyms: komuna is the everyday word, while bainugela (literally “bathroom”) is a bit more formal.

Building: floor and elevator

Basque	English
solairua	floor (1st, 2nd…)
igogailua	elevator / lift
eskailera	stairs
ataria	entrance hall / lobby

To say which floor you live on:

• Hirugarren solairuan bizi naiz. — I live on the third floor.
• Etxeak igogailua du. — The house has an elevator.

Useful Questions

• Zenbat gela ditu zure etxeak? — How many rooms does your house have?
• Zenbat logela ditu? — How many bedrooms does it have?
• Non dago sukaldea? — Where is the kitchen?
• Etxeak badu balkoirik? — Does the house have a balcony?

Cultural note: in Navarre and the Basque-Castilian area, it’s common to say pisua for an urban dwelling and etxea for a family/village house. In daily life, they are used interchangeably without issue.