This is the fourteenth lesson in our beginner level Spanish course and we will look at The Family in Spanish and practice describing family members with the Spanish verbs Ser and Estar.
First let’s take a look at some useful vocabulary related to The Family in Spanish:
(El) Marido: Husband
(La) Mujer / (La) Esposa: Wife
(El) Padre: Father
(La) Madre: Mother
(El) Hijo: Son
(La) Hija: Daughter
(El) Hermano: Brother
(La) Hermana: Sister
(El) Abuelo: Grandfather
(La) Abuela: Grandmother
(El) Nieto: Grandson
(La) Nieta: Granddaughter
(El) Tío: Uncle
(La) Tía: Aunt
(El) Sobrino: Nephew
(La) Sobrina: Niece
(El) Primo: Cousin (boy)
(La) Prima: Consin (girl)
Plurals
With plurals of members of The Family in Spanish you need to add ‘S‘. For example, Brothers would be Hermanos and Uncles would be Tíos. If there are two or more male family members you will use Los (The) rather than El (e.g. Los hermanos) and if there are two or more female family members you will use Las (The) rather than La (e.g. Las hermanas). If you wish to describe a mix of male and female family members, you always choose the male option and add the plural ‘S‘ at the end. For example, if you wish to say The Cousins and there are three female cousins and one male cousin you will say Los primos. Other plurals include: Los padres (the parents), Los hijos (the children/sons), Los abuelos (the grandparents/grandfathers), Los nietos (the grandchildren/grandsons), Los tíos (the uncles and aunts/uncles), Los sobrinos (the nephews and nieces/nephews).
Let’s practice
Next we are going to practice describing The Family in Spanish using the vocabulary we have just seen with the Spanish verbs Ser (To be) and Estar (To be) that we learned earlier in this course. Before we begin you should know that Who is Quien in Spanish (e.g. ¿Quien es Pedro?: Who is Pedro?) and we use De when in English you would use the possessive apostrophe ‘s (e.g. Pedro es hermano de Silvia: Pedro is Silvia’s brother).
¿Quién es Rebeca?: Who is Rebeca?
Rebeca es la tía de Carlos: Rebeca is Carlos’ aunt.
¿De dónde es Rebeca?: Where is Rebeca from?
Rebeca es de Cuba: Rebeca is from Cuba.
¿Cómo de llama el abuelo de Miguel?: What is the name of Miguel’s grandfather?
El abuelo de Miguel se llama José: Miguel’s grandfather is called José.
¿Dónde está José ahora?: Where is José now?
José está en el bar: José is in the bar.
¿Cuántos primos tiene María?: How many cousins does María have?
María tiene seis primos. Tres primos y tres primas: María has six cousins. Three male cousins and three female cousins.
¿Quiénes son?: Who are they?
Son Felipe, Alfredo, Alberto, Irene, Ana y Belén: They are Felipe, Alfredo, Alberto, Irene, Ana and Belén.
That is all for this lesson about The Family in Spanish. We recommend that you review the previous lessons in this course about Ser (To be) and Estar (To be) as well as our lessons about Tener (To have) and Nationalities and practice writing your own sentences to describe your family and the families of other people you know.
