Family: masculinemasculineA noun's gender that typically takes el or un in Spanish. and femininefeminineA noun's gender that typically takes la or una in Spanish.
Many family words have a masculinemasculineA noun's gender that typically takes el or un in Spanish. and a femininefeminineA noun's gender that typically takes la or una in Spanish. form: el padre (the father) and la madre (the mother), el hermano (the brother) and la hermana (the sister), el abuelo (the grandfather) and la abuela (the grandmother). It is best to always learn Spanish nounsnounsA word that names a person, thing, place, or idea, such as house or sun. together with their articlearticleA short word placed before a noun that shows its gender and number, such as el or la. (el/la).
The same applies to el hijo/la hija (the son/the daughter), el tío/la tía (the uncle/the aunt), el primo/la prima (the cousin), el nieto/la nieta (the grandson/the granddaughter) and el novio/la novia (the boyfriend/the girlfriend). el marido (the husband) and la esposa (the wife) belong together too, even though their forms do not differ by -o/-a.
Several people: los padres, los hermanos
The pluralpluralThe grammatical form used for more than one person or thing. can sum up several people: los padres means parents (father and mother together), los hermanos means siblings (brothers and sisters together).
mi and mis + family
With mi (my, singularsingularThe grammatical form used for exactly one person or thing.) and mis (my, pluralpluralThe grammatical form used for more than one person or thing.) you say who a person belongs to: Mi madre se llama Ana. (My mother's name is Ana.) Mis padres viven en Madrid. (My parents live in Madrid.)
tener + family
With tener (to have) you say how many siblings or other family members you have: Tengo un hermano. (I have one brother.) Tengo dos hermanas. (I have two sisters.)
Examples
- Mi madre se llama Ana.
- Tengo un hermano.
- Tengo dos hermanas.
- Mis padres viven en Madrid.