Body and Health in Basque

Overview

Knowing body part vocabulary and health expressions is important at the A1 level for practical situations — visiting a doctor, explaining symptoms, or simply talking about how you feel. Basque body part words follow standard noun patterns, and health expressions combine naturally with the verbs egon (temporary states) and izan (conditions).

Pain in Basque is expressed with the construction min dut or min zait (it hurts), depending on the dialect and context. The phrase gaixorik nago (I am sick) uses egon because illness is a temporary state. For going to the doctor, you will use sendagilea (doctor) or medikua (doctor, more colloquial).

This vocabulary also gives you practice with the dative case for expressing who feels the pain, and with body part nouns that appear frequently in everyday conversation.

How It Works

Body parts:

Basque	English	Basque	English
burua	head	eskua	hand
hanka	leg	besoa	arm
bihotza	heart	begia	eye
belarria	ear	ahoa	mouth
sudurra	nose	hortza	tooth
atzamarra	finger	belaunna	knee
bizkarrа	back	sabela	stomach

Health expressions:

Basque	English	Structure
Gaixorik nago.	I am sick.	egon + gaixorik
Min dut.	It hurts. / I have pain.	min + ukan
Burua min dut.	I have a headache.	body part + min + ukan
Ondo nago.	I am fine.	egon + ondo
Hotzikara dut.	I have chills.	noun + ukan

At the doctor:

Basque	English
sendagilea / medikua	doctor
ospitalea	hospital
farmazioa	pharmacy
botika	medicine
errezeta	prescription

Examples in Context

Basque	English	Note
Burua min dut.	I have a headache.	Common complaint
Gaixorik nago.	I am sick.	General illness
Sendagilearengana joan behar dut.	I need to go to the doctor.	Seeking help
Eskuak garbi itzazu.	Wash your hands.	Health advice
Sukarra dut.	I have a fever.	Symptom
Eztarria min dut.	I have a sore throat.	Specific pain
Ondo zaude?	Are you okay?	Checking on someone
Botika hartu behar dut.	I need to take medicine.	Treatment
Sabela min du.	He/She has a stomachache.	Third person
Alergiak ditut.	I have allergies.	Condition

Common Mistakes

Using izan instead of egon for being sick

• Wrong: Gaixorik naiz.
• Right: Gaixorik nago.
• Why: Illness is a temporary state, so it uses egon (nago), not izan (naiz).

Wrong construction for pain

• Wrong: Nire burua gaixorik dago. (for headache)
• Right: Burua min dut.
• Why: The standard construction for pain is: body part + min + ukan auxiliary. "Gaixorik" means generally sick, not in pain.

Forgetting the allative for "going to the doctor"

• Wrong: Sendagilea joan behar dut.
• Right: Sendagilearengana joan behar dut.
• Why: To say "to the doctor (person)," use -rengana (to someone's place). For the hospital (place), use -ra: ospitalera.

Practice Tips

1. Learn body parts by touching each one and saying the Basque word aloud: burua, begia, sudurra, ahoa, eskua...
2. Practice describing common ailments: Burua min dut, eztarria min dut, sabela min dut. Then practice the full sentence: Gaixorik nago, sendagilearengana joan behar dut.

Related Concepts

• Verb 'To Be Located' (egon)