Mi infancia jugando con mis vecinos

What does “un bajo” mean in Spanish?

She describes the small flat where she grew up: “el piso donde nosotros vivíamos era un bajo.” In Spain, a “bajo” is a flat right at street level — the lowest one in the block. She makes it clear by saying what it was not: “no era un primer piso, no era un segundo piso.” When you hear “un bajo” about a home, picture the ground floor: no stairs at all.

Spoken line: “el piso donde nosotros vivíamos era un bajo” — “the flat where we lived was a ground-floor one.” In Spain, floors are counted starting above the street. The ground floor is “el bajo,” then “el primero” (first floor), “el segundo” (second floor), and so on. Examples: - “Vivo en un bajo con un patio pequeño.” — “I live in a ground-floor flat with a small yard.” - “¿En qué piso estás? — En el bajo.” — “What floor are you on? — The ground floor.” - “El bajo es más fresco en verano.” — “The ground-floor flat is cooler in summer.” Note: “bajo” has other uses too — it can mean “low” or “short,” or “under” (as in “bajo la mesa”). Here it is a noun for the ground-floor home, the way she uses it.