Family Vocabulary

Family is where most real Spanish conversations start. When you meet someone in Spain, "¿Tienes hermanos?" or "¿De dónde es tu familia?" come up almost immediately. In this lesson you'll learn the words you need to introduce the people closest to you – and to understand when a Spaniard introduces theirs.

Core Family Members

Spanish family words follow a clean gender pattern: most masculine words end in -o and the feminine versions end in -a. Once you see the pattern, you get the feminine form almost for free.

El padre is the father, la madre is the mother. Together they're los padres – literally "the fathers," but Spanish uses the masculine plural to cover any mixed group. Don't read this as "two dads"; it just means "parents." The same logic applies to los hijos (the children) – sons and daughters together.

El hijo and la hija are the son and the daughter. El hermano and la hermana are the brother and the sister. If Marta has two brothers and one sister, she'd say "Tengo dos hermanos y una hermana." If she's talking about all of her siblings together – brothers and sisters – she'd say "mis hermanos."

A small but important note: el marido is the everyday word for husband in Spain. You'll also hear el esposo / la esposa, which is more formal, and plenty of Spaniards just use mi pareja (my partner) for any long-term relationship.

Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins

The same -o / -a pattern keeps going. El abuelo is the grandfather, la abuela is the grandmother, and los abuelos is the grandparents. Notice how often Spanish uses the masculine plural as a group word – this is going to keep happening, so it's worth getting comfortable with now.

El tío is the uncle, la tía is the aunt. Tío and tía also have a second life in Spain as casual slang for dude and girl, like "¡Qué fuerte, tío!" (No way, dude!). You'll hear it constantly among friends. Just read it from context – relatives or friends, you'll know which is which.

El primo and la prima are the male and female cousin. Spanish doesn't distinguish between first cousins, second cousins, or cousins-once-removed in everyday speech – everyone is just a primo or prima.

In-Laws and Step-Family

These come up less often at first, but they're worth recognizing.

El suegro and la suegra are the father-in-law and the mother-in-law. El cuñado and la cuñada are the brother-in-law and the sister-in-law. El yerno is the son-in-law, and la nuera is the daughter-in-law – these two break the -o / -a pattern, so just memorize them.

For step-family, Spanish often uses político/a ("by political tie") or -astro/-astra: el padrastro (stepfather), la madrastra (stepmother), el hermanastro, la hermanastra. These words can sound a bit cold, so many Spaniards just use the regular term and let context fill in the rest.

Talking About Family Size

When a Spaniard asks "¿Cómo es tu familia?" they want a feel for who's in it, not a recitation. A natural answer combines numbers, tener, and family words:

• Somos cuatro en mi familia. – We're four in my family.
• Tengo un hermano y una hermana. – I have one brother and one sister.
• Mis padres viven en Madrid. – My parents live in Madrid.
• Tengo muchos primos. – I have a lot of cousins.

You don't need every word in this lesson to give a real answer – three or four will get you a long way.

Practice

Words to Remember

Spanish	English
la familia	the family
el padre	the father
la madre	the mother
los padres	the parents
el hijo	the son
la hija	the daughter
los hijos	the children
el hermano	the brother
la hermana	the sister
el abuelo	the grandfather
la abuela	the grandmother
los abuelos	the grandparents
el tío	the uncle
la tía	the aunt
el primo	the male cousin
la prima	the female cousin
el marido	the husband
la mujer	the wife
el suegro	the father-in-law
la cuñada	the sister-in-law

Conversation

Sharing a family photo

Lucía: Mira, esta es mi familia. Look, this is my family.

Pablo: ¿Quiénes son? Who are they?

Lucía: Mi padre, mi madre y mis dos hermanos. My father, my mother and my two brothers.

Asking about siblings

María: ¿Tienes hermanos? Do you have any siblings?

Diego: Sí, una hermana y un hermano. ¿Y tú? Yes, one sister and one brother. And you?

María: Soy hija única, pero tengo muchos primos. I'm an only child, but I have lots of cousins.

Sunday lunch at the grandparents'

Abuela: ¿Dónde está tu marido, Carmen? Where's your husband, Carmen?

Carmen: Con mi padre y mi tío en el jardín. With my father and my uncle in the garden.

Abuela: Vale, llamamos a todos a la mesa. OK, let's call everyone to the table.