Family and Relationships

Talking about your family and relationships is a core GCSE Spanish topic. You need to describe family members, their appearance and personality, and discuss different types of relationships. This lesson covers family vocabulary, possessive adjectives, adjective agreement and describing people in detail.

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1. Family Members (Los miembros de la familia)

Core Family Vocabulary

Spanish	English
la familia	the family
el padre / el papá	the father / dad
la madre / la mamá	the mother / mum
los padres	the parents
el hermano	the brother
la hermana	the sister
los hermanos	the siblings
el hijo	the son
la hija	the daughter
los hijos	the children
el abuelo	the grandfather
la abuela	the grandmother
los abuelos	the grandparents
el tío	the uncle
la tía	the aunt
el primo / la prima	the cousin (male / female)
el sobrino / la sobrina	the nephew / the niece
el nieto / la nieta	the grandson / the granddaughter
el marido / el esposo	the husband
la mujer / la esposa	the wife

Extended and Modern Family Vocabulary

Spanish	English
el padrastro	the stepfather
la madrastra	the stepmother
el hermanastro	the stepbrother
la hermanastra	the stepsister
el medio hermano	the half-brother
la media hermana	the half-sister
el hijo único / la hija única	the only child (male / female)
la familia monoparental	single-parent family
la familia numerosa	large family
la familia reconstituida	blended/reconstituted family
el/la gemelo/a	the twin
el mayor / la mayor	the eldest
el menor / la menor	the youngest
el/la bebé	the baby
la mascota	the pet
el perro	the dog
el gato	the cat

Exam tip: Modern family structures are commonly tested in reading and listening exams. Know vocabulary for stepfamilies, single-parent families and blended families. The phrase "mis padres están divorciados" (my parents are divorced) is especially common.

Family vocabulary — relationship network

graph TD
    Y[Yo] --> P[los padres]
    P --> P1[el padre / papá]
    P --> P2[la madre / mamá]
    Y --> H[los hermanos]
    H --> H1[el hermano]
    H --> H2[la hermana]
    Y --> AB[los abuelos]
    AB --> AB1[el abuelo]
    AB --> AB2[la abuela]
    Y --> T[tíos y primos]
    T --> T1[el tío / la tía]
    T --> T2[el primo / la prima]
    Y --> M[familia moderna]
    M --> M1[el padrastro]
    M --> M2[la madrastra]
    M --> M3[el hermanastro / la hermanastra]
    M --> M4[el medio hermano / la media hermana]

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2. Possessive Adjectives (Los adjetivos posesivos)

Possessive adjectives agree with the noun they describe (NOT with the owner).

English	Before masculine singular	Before feminine singular	Before plural (m/f)
my	mi	mi	mis
your (tú)	tu	tu	tus
his/her/your (usted)	su	su	sus
our	nuestro	nuestra	nuestros / nuestras
your (vosotros)	vuestro	vuestra	vuestros / vuestras
their/your (ustedes)	su	su	sus

Examples

• Mi hermano es alto. — My brother is tall.
• Mis hermanas son simpáticas. — My sisters are nice.
• Nuestra casa es grande. — Our house is big.
• Sus padres están divorciados. — His/Her/Their parents are divorced.

Exam tip: A common mistake is to make the possessive adjective agree with the owner rather than the noun. "His sister" is su hermana (not su hermano) because hermana is feminine. "Our brothers" is nuestros hermanos (not nuestro hermanos) because hermanos is masculine plural.

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3. Describing People — Physical Appearance (El aspecto físico)

Key Phrases with Ser and Tener

For physical descriptions, Spanish uses ser (to be) for permanent characteristics and tener (to have) for features someone possesses.

Spanish	English
Es alto/a.	He/She is tall.
Es bajo/a.	He/She is short.
Es delgado/a.	He/She is slim.
Es gordo/a.	He/She is fat.
Es de estatura mediana.	He/She is of medium height.
Tiene el pelo largo/corto.	He/She has long/short hair.
Tiene el pelo rubio/moreno/castaño/pelirrojo.	He/She has blonde/dark/brown/red hair.
Tiene el pelo liso/rizado/ondulado.	He/She has straight/curly/wavy hair.
Tiene los ojos azules/verdes/marrones/negros.	He/She has blue/green/brown/black eyes.
Lleva gafas.	He/She wears glasses.
Tiene barba/bigote.	He has a beard/moustache.
Tiene pecas.	He/She has freckles.
Es calvo.	He is bald.

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4. Describing People — Personality (La personalidad)

Personality Adjectives

Masculine	Feminine	English
simpático	simpática	nice / kind
antipático	antipática	unpleasant
gracioso	graciosa	funny
serio	seria	serious
tímido	tímida	shy
hablador	habladora	talkative
trabajador	trabajadora	hard-working
perezoso	perezosa	lazy
generoso	generosa	generous
egoísta	egoísta	selfish
amable	amable	kind / friendly
inteligente	inteligente	intelligent
paciente	paciente	patient
impaciente	impaciente	impatient
cariñoso	cariñosa	affectionate
estricto	estricta	strict
comprensivo	comprensiva	understanding
maleducado	maleducada	rude / badly behaved

Exam tip: Adjectives ending in -o change to -a for feminine. Adjectives ending in -e or a consonant generally stay the same for both genders (amable, inteligente). However, adjectives ending in -or add -a (trabajador → trabajadora). Learn these patterns — they are tested constantly.

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5. Talking About Relationships

Key Phrases

Spanish	English
Me llevo bien con mi hermano.	I get on well with my brother.
Me llevo mal con mi hermana.	I don't get on with my sister.
Nos peleamos a menudo.	We argue often.
Mi mejor amigo/a es…	My best friend is…
Tenemos mucho en común.	We have a lot in common.
No tenemos nada en común.	We have nothing in common.
Me hace reír.	He/She makes me laugh.
Siempre me apoya.	He/She always supports me.
Es de confianza.	He/She is trustworthy.
Mi padre es muy estricto.	My father is very strict.
Mi madre es comprensiva.	My mother is understanding.