In Spanish, the words for family members are separated by gender (male and female). For example, a male cousin would be your “primo” and a female cousin would be your “prima”.

For many cousins, all male or both male and female, you use the masculine form or “primos” and for all female cousins use “primas”

When you are describing family members, it is always important to make sure that the adjectives you use agree in gender to the family member. For example, if you are saying your favorite cousin, you would say “mi primo favorite” for a male cousin and “mi prima favorite” for a female cousin. See list below for common words used for family members.

English Word/Spanish Word

Aunt tia

Brother hermano

Brother-in-law cuñado

Child niño, niña, niños, niñas Childhood niñez Cousin primo, prima, primos, primas Daughter hija Daughter-in-law nuera

Divorce divorcio

Father padre

Father-in-law suegro

Godson ahijado

Grandchild nieto

Granddaughter nieta

Grandfather abuelo

Great grandfather bisabuelo

Great great grandfather tatarabuelo

Grandmother abuela

Great Grandmother bisabuela

Great great grandmother tatarabuela

Grandson nieto

In-law pariente político

Marry casarse

Mother madre

Mother-in-law suegra

Nephew sobrino

Niece sobrina

Parents padres

Sister hermana

Sister-in-law cuñada

Son hijo

Son-in-law yerno

Stepbrother hermanostro

Stepchild hijastro

Stepdaughter hijastra

Stepfather padrastro

Stepmother madrastra

Stepson hijastro

Uncle tio

Here are a few sentences in Spanish using the family words:

Mis hijas viven en Chicago My daughters live in Chicago

Tengo nuevo tios I have 9 aunts and uncles

Tengo quarto ninos I have 4 children (this can be 4 boys or a mixture of boys and girls)

Tengo dos hermanos y una hermana I have 2 brothers and one sister.

Memorization of Spanish words will come with repetition. Practice saying these words out loud for at least 10 minutes per day to reinforce your learning.

Perriann Rodriguez
http://www.learnESPANOLfree.com