Vocabulary You Need To Identify Your Family In Spanish

If you’ve moved to a Spanish-speaking country, you’ll eventually be asked about your family.

Knowing how to identify your family in Spanish is obviously important and, even though there are quite a few words to remember, it’s not that difficult.

Learn all the words you need to talk about your family in Spanish using this guide.

Using masculine plurals to identify family members

Before we get started with the vocabulary, let’s first mention the importance of masculine plurals when identifying family in Spanish.

We use masculine plurals when identifying a group of people in which there are both men and women.

For this reason, if you use the phrase tres hermanos, this can refer to a group of brothers and sisters – not just brothers.

Masculine plurals can be used in this way to describe parents or padres, cousins or primos, and children, or hijos.

If you’re referring exclusively to women or girls, you can use the feminine plural.

So, if you’ve got two twin daughters, you can call them your hijas. If you have two female cousins, you can call them your primas.

How can you tell which family members are being referred to with masculine plurals?

Say you hear someone talking about los hermanos.

In Spanish, it can be a bit difficult at first to know whether someone is referring to more than one brother or referring to a group of brothers and sisters.

You’ll have to consider the context and listen carefully to understand whether they mean “the siblings” or “the brothers” when talking about family in Spanish.

For example, you might hear someone say:

Mis hermanos son muy felices.

This sentence can either mean “my brothers are very happy”, or “my siblings are very happy”.

You’ll need to follow the conversation very closely to understand which one they are referring to, or ask a follow up question to find out.

Key vocabulary to use when identifying family in Spanish

Let’s now explore the key vocabulary you should use when identifying your family in Spanish.

This section is divided into close family members and wider family members.

Vocabulary for close family in Spanish

We’ll start with the vocabulary you can use for identifying close family in Spanish.

Have you encountered these words before?

Madre

Madre means “mother” in Spanish.

It is a feminine, singular noun or sustantivo and can also refer to a woman who has qualities that are attributed to being a mother.

Usage example:

Padre

In Spanish, padre means “father”. It is masculine singular noun used to refer to a male (or un varón) who has a child or upwards of one child.

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Padres

Padres is a masculine plural noun that means “parents” in English. It refers to the father and mother of a person and can be used to refer to both of them.

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Hermana

This feminine singular noun means “sister” in English. It is used to refer to a person who has a female sibling from the same father and mother as their own.

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Hermano

Hermano is a masculine singular sustantivo. Use it to mention someone who is a male sibling from the same mother and father as your own.

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Hermanos

Hermanos is a masculine plural noun. You can use it to mention a group of many brothers or a group of siblings that are both males and females.

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Abuela

The Spanish word abuela is a feminine noun that means “grandmother”. Use it when you want to refer to the mother of your father or the mother of your mother.

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Abuelo

This sustantivo is a masculine noun for “grandfather”. It’s used to identify the father of your mother or the father of your father.

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Abuelos

The masculine plural noun abuelos can be used to identify or refer to the parents of one of your parents, or all of your grandparents.

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Esposa

Esposa means “wife” in English. This feminine Spanish noun refers to a woman who is married and references the relationship to her spouse or husband.

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Esposo

Esposo means “husband” in English. The masculine Spanish noun refers to a man who is married and relates to the spousal relationship to their wife.

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Hijo

The masculine sustantivo, hijo, means “son” in English. There’s a difference between hijo and niño. Use hijo to refer to your son, no matter their age and niño to refer to a male child.

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Hija

The feminine sustantivo, hija, means “daughter” in English. Note the difference between hija and niña. Use hija to refer to your daughter, regardless of how old they are, and niña to refer to a female child.

Usage example:

Hijos

This mascline plural sustantivo means

The masculine plural Spanish noun hijos refers to a group of sons and daughters. It translates to English as “offspring” and can also mean “children”.

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Nieto

Nieto is a masculine sustantivo that means “grandson” in English.

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Nieta

Nieta is a feminine sustantivo that means “granddaughter” in English.

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Nietos

Use this masculine plural Spanish noun to refer to a group of grandchildren that includes males and females, or to identify several grandsons.

Usage examples:

Vocabulary for extended family in Spanish

Now we’re going to move on to the vocabulary you need to identify extended family in Spanish. Have you ever heard of these words?

Tía

The Spanish sustantivo, tía means “aunt” or “aunty” in English. Though it can also mean “girl” or “chick” when referring to a female friend.

Usage examples:

Tío

This is the masculine equivalent of the Spanish sustantivo tía. Tío means “uncle” in English. Just like the word tía, tío can be used as a colloquial word to refer to a male friend as “mate” or “guy”.

Usage example:

Tía abuela

Use this Spanish sustantivo to refer to your great-aunt. You can remember by bearing in mind that it features the feminine sustantivo tía, meaning “aunty”.

Usage example:

Tío abuelo

Use this Spanish sustantivo to refer to your great-uncle. Again, keep in mind that it features the masculine sustantivo tío, which means “uncle” to help you remember it.

Usage example:

Prima

Prima, in Spanish, is a feminine noun that means “cousin” in English.

If you’ve got many female cousins, you can use the plural term primas to refer to them.

Usage example:

Primo

Use primo to refer to a cousin that is male, and if you need to refer to a group of male cousins, use primos.

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Primos

As mentioned just above, primos (the plural of primo) can be used to refer to several male cousins, or to reference a group of male and female cousins.

Usage example:

Sobrina

Sobrina means “niece” in Spanish. Use this sustantivo to refer to the daughter of your brother or sister.

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Sobrino

Sobrino is the masculine sustantivo or noun for the word “nephew”. Use it to refer to the son of your brother or sister.

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Madrastra

Your madrastra is your stepmother. You can remember this sustantivo by keeping in mind that its first half sounds like madre.

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Padrastro

Your padrastro is your stepfather. Keep in mind that the first half sounds like padre to help you remember what it means.

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Hijastra

Use this noun to identify or talk about a stepdaughter in Spanish.

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Hijastro

This noun can be used to identify or talk about a stepson in Spanish.

Hermanastra

Refer to a stepsister using this noun in Spanish.

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Hermanastro

This noun can be used to refer to a stepbrother in Spanish.

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Media hermana

Media hermana, containing the Spanish word media for “half”, means half-sister.

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Medio hermano

Medio hermano, which contains the Spanish adjective medio for “half”, means half-brother.

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Madrina

The feminine sustantivo madrina means “godmother” in English. Again, it sounds similar to madre, which might help you remember this one.

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Padrino

The masculine sustantivo, padrino, means “godfather” in English. It also sounds similar to padre, which can help you remember this noun.

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Ahijada

Ahijada means “goddaughter” in English.

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Ahijado

Ahijado refers to a godson in Spanish.

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Suegra

When you get married and have a new mother-in-law, use this Spanish sustantivo to refer to her.

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Suegro

Use the Spanish sustantivo, suegro, to refer to a father-in-law.

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Cuñada

Cuñada means sister-in-law in English.

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Cuñado

Cuñado means brother-in-law in English.

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Learn how to identify family in Spanish

When a Spanish speaker asks you about your family in Spanish, you should now be equipped to answer them.

Learn how to identify and talk about family in Spanish by practicing the nouns listed in this guide.

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