The short version
- Hermanos means brothers and sisters together, padres means parents, and hijos means children. The masculine plural covers mixed groups.
- Go beyond a list: say who's older or younger, where they live and how you get on.
- If you live abroad, prepare for ¿Los echas de menos? It comes up a lot.
The first family question you'll get in Spanish is usually ¿Tienes hermanos? It doesn't mean "Have you got brothers?". It means "Have you got brothers or sisters?". Spanish uses the masculine plural for mixed groups, so hermanos covers both. That little detail is a good place to start if you want to talk about your family in Spanish, because it comes up with nearly every family word.
Family is one of the first topics people ask about once you've got past names and jobs. It's also one of the easiest to prepare, because the answers don't change much. Get it smooth once and you'll use it for years.
The words you need first
You don't need every relative. Start with the ones you'll actually talk about.
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| el padre / la madre | father / mother |
| los padres | parents |
| el hermano / la hermana | brother / sister |
| los hermanos | brothers and sisters, siblings |
| el hijo / la hija | son / daughter |
| los hijos | children (sons and daughters) |
| el abuelo / la abuela | grandfather / grandmother |
| el tío / la tía | uncle / aunt |
| el primo / la prima | cousin |
| el sobrino / la sobrina | nephew / niece |
| el marido / la mujer | husband / wife |
| la pareja | partner |
| el novio / la novia | boyfriend / girlfriend |
In Spain, mi mujer and mi marido are the normal ways to say "my wife" and "my husband". Esposa and esposo exist, but they sound more formal in everyday conversation. Pareja works for any partner, married or not.
Padres means parents. Parientes means relatives, not parents. So Mis padres viven en Londres is "My parents live in London". It's an easy one to mix up, because parientes looks so much like the English word.
In-laws and step-families
Once you've been in Spain a while, you'll probably need these too, especially if your partner is Spanish.
| Spanish | English | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| el suegro / la suegra | father-in-law / mother-in-law | Los suegros for both |
| el cuñado / la cuñada | brother-in-law / sister-in-law | Very common word in Spain |
| el yerno / la nuera | son-in-law / daughter-in-law | |
| el medio hermano / la medio hermana | half-brother / half-sister | |
| el hermanastro / la hermanastra | stepbrother / stepsister | |
| el padrastro / la madrastra | stepfather / stepmother | Can sound a bit harsh |
Many people avoid padrastro and madrastra in conversation, because madrastra is the word for the wicked stepmother in fairy tales, and both can sound a bit cold. It's often more natural to say la pareja de mi padre (my dad's partner) or el marido de mi madre (my mum's husband).
The questions people ask
These are the questions you'll hear most. Recognising them straight away is half the job.
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| ¿Tienes hermanos? | Have you got any brothers or sisters? |
| ¿Tienes hijos? | Have you got children? |
| ¿Cuántos años tienen? | How old are they? |
| ¿Estás casado / casada? | Are you married? |
| ¿Tienes pareja? | Have you got a partner? |
| ¿Cuántos sois en tu familia? | How many of you are there in your family? |
| ¿Tu familia vive aquí? | Does your family live here? |
| ¿Os veis mucho? | Do you see each other much? |
People in Spain are usually happy to talk about their families, and they'll often ask quite directly. If a question is more personal than you'd like, a short answer is fine. No, no tengo hijos is a complete answer. You don't need to explain.
Say more than a list
Tengo un hermano y una hermana is correct. It's also where most learners stop. A couple of extra details make it a real answer, and give the other person something to ask about.
- Who's older or younger. Soy el mayor (I'm the oldest), Soy la pequeña (I'm the youngest), Soy el mediano (I'm the middle one).
- How many of you there are. Somos cuatro: mis padres, mi hermano y yo.
- Where they live. Mi hermano vive en Edimburgo.
- What they do. Mi madre es profesora. Mi hermana trabaja en un hospital.
- How you get on. Me llevo muy bien con mi hermano. Nos llevamos genial.
Here's how that builds up:
- Tengo una hermana.I've got a sister.
- Tengo una hermana mayor.I've got an older sister.
- Tengo una hermana mayor que vive en Bristol con su novio.I've got an older sister who lives in Bristol with her boyfriend.
- Tengo una hermana mayor que vive en Bristol con su novio. Ahora nos llevamos genial, pero de pequeñas nos peleábamos muchísimo.I've got an older sister who lives in Bristol with her boyfriend. We get on really well now, but when we were little we used to fight all the time.
That last line is a good hook. Almost everyone has a story about fighting with a brother or sister. For what people are like, as well as who they are, see how to describe people in Spanish.
Draw a simple family tree on a piece of paper and label everyone with the Spanish word: mi madre, mi tío, mi cuñada. Next to each person, write one short sentence: where they live, what they do, or what they're like. Then pick three people a day and talk about them out loud for a minute, without looking at your sentences. By the end of the week you'll have covered everyone, and the words for relatives will stop being something you have to work out.
When your family lives far away
If you live in Spain and your family doesn't, this is where the conversation usually goes next. People will want to know where they are, how often you see them, and whether you miss them.
In Spain, "to miss someone" is echar de menos: Te echo de menos, Los echo de menos. In Latin America you'll often hear extrañar instead. Both are understood everywhere, but echar de menos is what you'll hear most in Spain.
Harder family conversations
Not every family question has an easy answer. It helps to have a short, calm sentence ready, so you're not trying to build it on the spot.
- Mi padre murió hace dos años. (My dad died two years ago.) Falleció is a softer, more formal alternative.
- Mis padres están divorciados. (My parents are divorced.) Separados is also common.
- No tengo mucha relación con mi hermano. (I'm not very close to my brother.)
- Somos una familia pequeña. (We're a small family.)
If someone tells you about a loss, the usual reply is Lo siento mucho (I'm really sorry). You don't need anything more complicated than that.
Common mistakes
Answering ¿Tienes hermanos? with No, tengo una hermana.
Sí, tengo una hermana. Hermanos includes sisters.
Mis parientes viven en Londres to mean your parents.
Mis padres viven en Londres.
Mi hermana es mayor que yo tres años.
Mi hermana es tres años mayor que yo. or Mi hermana me saca tres años.
Extraño a mi familia in Spain.
It's understood, but Echo de menos a mi familia sounds more natural here.
Listing names and stopping.
Add who's older, where they live, or how you get on.
Recap
- The masculine plural covers mixed groups: hermanos, padres, hijos.
- Padres are parents. Parientes are relatives.
- Say who's older, where they live, what they do and how you get on.
- In Spain, "to miss" is echar de menos.
- Keep a short, calm sentence ready for the harder topics.
Family is one of the themes in 100 Spanish Conversations, with the words, structures and a full conversation to practise out loud. Once you've drawn your family tree, try describing one person in the Skool community. If you've got a dog or a cat who counts as family, how to talk about your pets in Spanish has you covered too.
Leeroy studied Spanish for years before moving to Spain and finding he couldn't hold a conversation. He built Basically Spanish around the method that fixed it. Questions? leeroy@basicallyspanish.com