Your Family
Spanish Basic Conversation 1
Chapter 5 · Talking About Your Family
👨👩👧👦 Your Family — Mi familia
In this chapter you will talk about your family: who is in it, how many brothers and sisters you have, and how old they are. You will learn the possessives mi, tu, su, nuestro, vuestro ("my, your, his/her/their, our, your") and the useful little word hay ("there is, there are"). From this chapter on, the dialogs no longer have a respelling under each line (you have practised reading Spanish aloud for four chapters now); the tables still give the respelling, and a Hard words box helps with the trickiest words.
① Brothers and Sisters (informal) — ¿Tienes hermanos?
A:
¿Tienes hermanos?
Do you have brothers or sisters?
B:
Sí, tengo dos hermanos y una hermana.
Yes, I have two brothers and a sister.
A:
¿Cómo se llaman?
What are they called?
B:
Mis hermanos se llaman Pablo y Javier, y mi hermana se llama Ana.
My brothers are called Pablo and Javier, and my sister is called Ana.
A:
Yo no tengo hermanos. Soy hijo único.
I don't have any brothers or sisters. I'm an only child.
② Children (formal) — ¿Tiene usted hijos?
A:
Perdone, ¿tiene usted hijos?
Excuse me, do you have children?
B:
Sí, tengo una hija y un hijo.
Yes, I have a daughter and a son.
A:
¿Cuántos años tienen?
How old are they?
B:
Mi hija tiene doce años y mi hijo tiene nueve.
My daughter is twelve and my son is nine.
③ A Family Photo — ¿Quién es ella?
A:
¿Quién es ella?
Who is she?
B:
Es mi madre. Y él es mi padre.
She's my mother. And he is my father.
A:
¿Y ellos?
And them?
B:
Son mis abuelos, los padres de mi madre.
They're my grandparents, my mother's parents.
④ Where Your Family Lives — Mis padres viven en Sevilla
A:
¿Dónde viven tus padres?
Where do your parents live?
B:
Mis padres viven en Sevilla y mis tíos viven en Madrid.
My parents live in Seville and my aunt and uncle live in Madrid.
A:
¿Visitas mucho a tu familia?
Do you visit your family a lot?
B:
Sí, visito a mi familia muy a menudo. Quiero mucho a mi familia.
Yes, I visit my family very often. I love them very much.
⑤ A Big Family — Somos seis
A:
Tenemos una familia grande. Somos seis.
We have a big family. There are six of us.
B:
¿Quiénes?
Who?
A:
Mis padres, mis dos hermanos, mi abuela y yo.
My parents, my two brothers, my grandmother and me.
B:
En mi casa hay cuatro personas. Mi familia es pequeña.
In my house there are four people. My family is small.
⑥ Two Sisters Chatting (casual, plural) — Nuestros padres
A:
Vuestros padres, ¿de dónde son?
Your parents, where are they from?
B:
Nuestra madre es de Sevilla y nuestro padre es de Londres.
Our mother is from Seville and our father is from London.
A:
¡Qué interesante! ¿Y vuestros abuelos?
How interesting! And your grandparents?
B:
Nuestros abuelos viven en España.
Our grandparents live in Spain.
🗝️ Key Phrases — Frases clave
| Situation | Formal (usted) | Informal (tú) |
|---|---|---|
| Do you have brothers or sisters? | ¿Tiene usted hermanos? TYEH-neh oos-TEHD ehr-MAH-nohs | ¿Tienes hermanos? TYEH-nehs ehr-MAH-nohs |
| How many…? | ¿Cuántos hijos tiene? KWAHN-tohs EE-khohs TYEH-neh | ¿Cuántos hermanos tienes? KWAHN-tohs ehr-MAH-nohs TYEH-nehs |
| I have… | Tengo dos hijos. TEHN-goh dohs EE-khohs | Tengo un hermano. TEHN-goh oon ehr-MAH-noh |
| What is your mother called? | ¿Cómo se llama su madre? KOH-moh seh YAH-mah soo MAH-dreh | ¿Cómo se llama tu madre? KOH-moh seh YAH-mah too MAH-dreh |
| My mother is called… | Mi madre se llama Carmen. mee MAH-dreh seh YAH-mah kar-MEHN | Mi madre se llama Carmen. mee MAH-dreh seh YAH-mah kar-MEHN |
| I'm an only child | Soy hijo único. / Soy hija única. SOY EE-khoh OO-nee-koh / SOY EE-khah OO-nee-kah | Soy hijo único. / Soy hija única. SOY EE-khoh OO-nee-koh / SOY EE-khah OO-nee-kah |
👪 Family Words — Vocabulario de la familia
| Masculine | Feminine | Plural (both together) |
|---|---|---|
| el padre ehl PAH-dreh (father) | la madre lah MAH-dreh (mother) | los padres lohs PAH-drehs (parents) |
| el hermano ehl ehr-MAH-noh (brother) | la hermana lah ehr-MAH-nah (sister) | los hermanos lohs ehr-MAH-nohs (brothers and sisters) |
| el hijo ehl EE-khoh (son) | la hija lah EE-khah (daughter) | los hijos lohs EE-khohs (children) |
| el abuelo ehl ah-BWEH-loh (grandfather) | la abuela lah ah-BWEH-lah (grandmother) | los abuelos lohs ah-BWEH-lohs (grandparents) |
| el tío ehl TEE-oh (uncle) | la tía lah TEE-ah (aunt) | los tíos lohs TEE-ohs (aunt and uncle) |
| el primo ehl PREE-moh (male cousin) | la prima lah PREE-mah (female cousin) | los primos lohs PREE-mohs (cousins) |
| el marido / el esposo ehl mah-REE-doh / ehl ehs-POH-soh (husband) | la mujer / la esposa lah moo-KHEHR / lah ehs-POH-sah (wife) | los esposos lohs ehs-POH-sohs (husband and wife) |
| el novio ehl NOH-byoh (boyfriend) | la novia lah NOH-byah (girlfriend) | los novios lohs NOH-byohs (boyfriend and girlfriend) |
The Masculine Plural Includes Everyone
The masculine plural covers a mixed group: los hermanos can mean "brothers" or "brothers and sisters", los padres is "parents", los abuelos "grandparents", los tíos "aunt and uncle". To say "my brothers and sisters" you can just say mis hermanos.
👉 Possessives — Los posesivos
| Owner | With a singular noun | With a plural noun |
|---|---|---|
| my | mi MEE (mi madre, mi padre) | mis MEES (mis padres) |
| your (tú) | tu TOO (tu madre) | tus TOOS (tus padres) |
| his, her, its, your (usted), their | su SOO (su madre) | sus SOOS (sus padres) |
| our | nuestro / nuestra NWEHS-troh / NWEHS-trah (nuestro padre, nuestra madre) | nuestros / nuestras NWEHS-trohs / NWEHS-trahs (nuestros padres) |
| your (vosotros; Spain) | vuestro / vuestra BWEHS-troh / BWEHS-trah | vuestros / vuestras BWEHS-trohs / BWEHS-trahs |
The Possessive Agrees With the Thing Owned
In English "his" and "her" depend on who owns the thing. In Spanish the possessive depends on what is owned: singular or plural, and for nuestro / vuestro also masculine or feminine. So su madre can be "his mother", "her mother", "your mother" (usted) or "their mother", and mis hermanos is "my brothers (and sisters)" whoever you are.
Which "su"?
Because su has so many meanings, Spanish speakers clarify when needed with de + person: la madre de él, la madre de ella, la madre de usted, la madre de ellos. Usually the context makes it clear.
🔤 Three Verbs for Family Talk — Verbos
Tener ("to have") you met in Chapter 3. Querer ("to want"; with a person, "to love") has the vowel change e → ie in all forms except nosotros and vosotros. Visitar ("to visit") is regular. When the object of querer or visitar is a person, Spanish puts a before it: Quiero a mi madre. Visito a mis abuelos.
| tener (to have) | querer (to want; to love) | visitar (to visit) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| yo (I) | tengo TEHN-goh | quiero KYEH-roh | visito bee-SEE-toh |
| tú (you, informal) | tienes TYEH-nehs | quieres KYEH-rehs | visitas bee-SEE-tahs |
| él, ella, usted | tiene TYEH-neh | quiere KYEH-reh | visita bee-SEE-tah |
| nosotros (we) | tenemos teh-NEH-mohs | queremos keh-REH-mohs | visitamos bee-see-TAH-mohs |
| vosotros (Spain) | tenéis teh-NAYS | queréis keh-RAYS | visitáis bee-see-TAHYS |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | tienen TYEH-nehn | quieren KYEH-rehn | visitan bee-SEE-tahn |
🏠 Tener and Hay — Tener y hay
| Use | Example |
|---|---|
| tener: what someone has | Tengo dos hermanos. I have two brothers (or brothers and sisters). Mi hermana tiene tres hijos. My sister has three children. |
| hay (AY): there is / there are | En mi familia hay cinco personas. There are five people in my family. ¿Hay un hotel aquí? Is there a hotel here? No hay problema. There's no problem. |
Hay never changes: it is the same for one thing or many (hay un hermano, hay dos hermanos). The question is ¿Hay…? and the negative is no hay.
📖 Vocabulary — Vocabulario
20 key words. Read the Spanish first, then check the respelling (CAPITALS = the stressed syllable).
| # | Spanish | Say it | English | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | la familia | lah fah-MEE-lyah | family | noun |
| 2 | la madre | lah MAH-dreh | mother | noun |
| 3 | el padre | ehl PAH-dreh | father | noun |
| 4 | los padres | lohs PAH-drehs | parents | noun |
| 5 | el hermano | ehl ehr-MAH-noh | brother | noun |
| 6 | la hermana | lah ehr-MAH-nah | sister | noun |
| 7 | el hijo | ehl EE-khoh | son | noun |
| 8 | la hija | lah EE-khah | daughter | noun |
| 9 | el abuelo | ehl ah-BWEH-loh | grandfather | noun |
| 10 | la abuela | lah ah-BWEH-lah | grandmother | noun |
| 11 | el tío | ehl TEE-oh | uncle | noun |
| 12 | la tía | lah TEE-ah | aunt | noun |
| 13 | el primo | ehl PREE-moh | male cousin | noun |
| 14 | la prima | lah PREE-mah | female cousin | noun |
| 15 | el marido | ehl mah-REE-doh | husband | noun |
| 16 | la mujer | lah moo-KHEHR | wife; woman | noun |
| 17 | el novio | ehl NOH-byoh | boyfriend; fiancé | noun |
| 18 | la novia | lah NOH-byah | girlfriend; fiancée | noun |
| 19 | hay | AY | there is; there are | verb |
| 20 | mi / mis | MEE / MEES | my | possessive |
Hard Words
The dialogs no longer have respelling lines, so here are the words most likely to trip you up. hermano = ehr-MAH-noh (silent h) · hija = EE-khah (silent h, throaty j) · abuela = ah-BWEH-lah · tío = TEE-oh (two syllables, written accent) · quiero = KYEH-roh (qu = k) · nuestro = NWEHS-troh · vuestro = BWEHS-troh (v = soft b) · mujer = moo-KHEHR.
Spanish Families and Surnames
All the children in a Spanish family normally share the same two surnames (their father's first surname, then their mother's first surname), so brother and sister are, for example, Pablo Ruiz López and Ana Ruiz López. Family ties are strong in Spain, and grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins are often a regular part of everyday life.
Latin America Note
In Latin America the plural "you" is ustedes and its possessive is su / sus, so ¿De dónde son sus padres? replaces ¿De dónde son vuestros padres? (vuestro is Spain only). Mamá and papá are the usual affectionate words for "mum" and "dad" everywhere, and in many Latin American countries los papás is common for "the parents".
Grammar Pointer
Possessives and demonstratives are explained fully in Spanish Grammar 1 7, tener and the other irregular verbs in Spanish Grammar 2 4, and the vowel change of querer in Spanish Grammar 2 5. Use them as a reference after this chapter.
✍️ Try It Yourself — Ejercicios
Say each answer out loud first, then click to check.
1. Ask a friend if they have brothers or sisters, then say you have two sisters.
Show answer
¿Tienes hermanos? Tengo dos hermanas. (TYEH-nehs ehr-MAH-nohs? TEHN-goh dohs ehr-MAH-nahs)
2. Introduce your mother and your father in a photo.
Show answer
Es mi madre. Él es mi padre. (ehs mee MAH-dreh. EHL ehs mee PAH-dreh)
3. Choose the possessive: "Ana y yo vivimos con ___ padres." · "¿Dónde viven ___ abuelos?" (tú)
Show answer
nuestros · tus.
4. Say in Spanish: "My parents live in Seville." · "Our mother is from London."
Show answer
Mis padres viven en Sevilla. · Nuestra madre es de Londres.
5. Complete with tener or hay: "Mi hermana ___ tres hijos." · "En mi familia ___ cinco personas."
Show answer
tiene · hay.
6. Say: "I visit my grandparents" and "I love my family." (with the personal a)
Show answer
Visito a mis abuelos. · Quiero a mi familia.
Coming Up in Chapter 6
Talking about your job: Trabajo como… ("I work as…"), professions with masculine and feminine forms (el / la médico), soy informático / informática, trabajo en una empresa, and the regular -ar, -er, -ir verbs.