Long Noun Phrases

Level 5

English puts many details after the noun; Basque puts them before it. Read from the right: atzo egin zen bileran hartutako erabakiak = the decisions (erabakiak) taken (hartutako) at the meeting (bileran) that was held yesterday (atzo egin zen).

How It Works

1. The building blocks.

  • -ko after places, times and other postpositions: Bilboko, gaurko, ingurumenari buruzko (about the environment), Gasteizerako (to Gasteiz)
  • -(r)en for owners: museoaren, Mirenen
  • relative clauses with -(e)n: atzo egin zen bilera (the meeting that was held yesterday)
  • participles with -tako: hartutako erabakiak (the decisions taken)

2. Stacking. Each new block goes further to the left: zuzendaria → museoko zuzendaria → Guggenheim museoko zuzendaria → Bilboko Guggenheim museoko zuzendaria.

3. How to read them. Find the last noun first: it is what the phrase is about. Then read to the left, one block at a time. There are rarely commas inside the phrase, so look for the endings -ko, -en and -tako.

4. Where you see them. Long noun phrases are typical of newspapers, official texts and academic writing. In speech, people usually split the idea into shorter sentences: Atzo bilera bat egin zen, eta erabaki batzuk hartu ziren. Both styles are correct; the short style is easier to follow. See noun-heavy formal style.

Examples (6)

  1. Bilboko Guggenheim museoko zuzendaria gaur etorriko da.

    The director of the Guggenheim museum in Bilbao will come today.

  2. Atzo egin zen bileran hartutako erabakiak ez zaizkit gustatzen.

    I don't like the decisions taken at yesterday's meeting.

    Literally: the at-the-meeting-that-was-held-yesterday taken decisions.

  3. Ingurumenari buruzko lege berria onartu dute.

    They have passed the new law on the environment.

  4. Gasteizerako hurrengo trena hamarretan irtengo da.

    The next train to Gasteiz will leave at ten.

  5. Nire ahizpak idatzitako liburuaren azala gorria da.

    The cover of the book my sister wrote is red.

  6. Herriko jaietako egitaraua udaletxean dago.

    The programme of the town's festival is at the town hall.

Common Mistakes

  • Leaving out -ko when a place phrase describes a noun.

    Bilbon museoa oso ezaguna da.
    Bilboko museoa oso ezaguna da.

    Bilbon tells where something is. To describe a noun (“the museum in Bilbao”), the place phrase needs -ko: Bilboko museoa.

  • Putting the describing phrase after the noun, as in English.

    Zuzendaria museoko etorri da.
    Museoko zuzendaria etorri da.

    A -ko phrase always comes before the noun it describes.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Long Noun PhrasesLevel 5

Learn This First

Long noun phrases combine genitives, -ko modifiers and finite or participial relative modifiers.