0.2.3 Family & Friends

Question 1

Translate to Spanish:

a family

Answer 1

una familia

“family” = la familia

Question 2

Translate to Spanish:

my family

Answer 2

mi familia

“my” = mi

_Possessive Pronouns_

• my - mi
• your - tu
• his / her / your - su
• our - nuestro
• your - vuestro
• their - su

Note that we use the same possessive pronoun (su) for “his” and “their”, no matter the gender of the subject or object.

However, also note the possessive pronouns do change if the quantity of the object is different. (e.g. “My two families” = mis dos familias.)

Question 3

Translate to Spanish:

my friend

Answer 3

mi amigo / mi compañero

Question 4

Translate to Spanish:

my girlfriend

Answer 4

mi novia

Question 5

Translate to Spanish:

my boyfriend

Answer 5

mi novio

Question 6

Translate to Spanish:

your family

Answer 6

tu familia

“your” (singular/formal) = tu.

Note that the possessive pronoun tu does not have an accent mark, whereas the regular personal pronoun tú (you) does.

_Possessive Pronouns_

• my - mi
• your - tu
• his / her / your - su
• our - nuestro
• your - vuestro
• their - su

Question 7

Translate to Spanish:

my father / my dad

Answer 7

mi padre / mi papá

In Spanish, padre feels about as formal as “father” does in English. Papá is used more colloquially. And sometimes even papi.

Question 8

Translate to Spanish:

your mother / your mom

Answer 8

tu madre / tu mamá

In Spanish, madre feels about as formal as “mother” does in English. Mamá is used more colloquially. And sometimes even mami.

Question 9

Translate to Spanish:

my parents

Answer 9

mis padres / mis papás

As with other collective Spanish nouns describing people of two different genders, we choose the masculine version to describe them together as “parents”. Padres is much more formal sounding than the more colloquial papás.

Also note that the possessive prounoun mi changes to mis when referring to more than one object.

_Possessive Pronouns_

• my - mi
• your - tu
• his / her / your - su
• our - nuestro
• your - vuestro
• their - su

Question 10

Translate to Spanish:

José’s family is very big.

Answer 10

La familia de José es muy grande.

“[José]’s” - de [José]

There are no apostrophes in Spanish. To show possession, just use de (as if we were saying “The family of José …”).

Question 11

Translate to Spanish:

Is his family big?

Answer 11

¿Es grande su familia?

“his / her / your (formal)” = su

Remember that this is the same posessive pronoun no matter what the gender of the subject or object. Possessive pronouns only need to agree in quantity. (e.g. His cars - sus carros.)

In this case, we’re using the third-person singular version of su, since we’re just talking about one person and their one family.

_Possessive Pronouns_

• my - mi
• your - tu
• his / her / your - su
• our - nuestro
• your - vuestro
• their - su

Question 12

Translate to Spanish:

His parents are from Venezuela.

Answer 12

Sus papás son de Venezuela.

“His (plural)” = sus

Always remember to make this possessive pronoun plural (su –> sus) when referring to more than one person or object.

Also remember to accentuate the second “á” in papás, since papas (without an accent) are potatoes :)

_Possessive Pronouns_

• my - mi
• your - tu
• his / her / your - su
• our - nuestro
• your - vuestro
• their - su

Question 13

Translate to Spanish:

Who are your parents?

Answer 13

¿Quienes son tus papás?

“your (informal/plural)” = tus

_Possessive Pronouns_

• my - mi
• your - tu
• his / her / your - su
• our - nuestro
• your - vuestro
• their - su

Question 14

Translate to Spanish:

Our mom is from Argentina.

Answer 14

Nuestra mamá es de Argentina.

“our” = nuestro

Question 15

Translate to Spanish:

Are your parents American?

speaking to many people (vosotros)

Answer 15

¿Son estadounidenses vuestros papás?

“your (informal/plural)” = vuestro.

Note that vuestro becomes vuestros to match the plural papás.

Question 16

Translate to Spanish:

Is this your brother, sir?

Answer 16

¿Es su hermano, señor?

“brother” = el hermano.

Note that we used the possessive pronoun su instead of tu, since we were addressing someone respectfully (whom we would have called Usted instead of tú).

Question 17

Translate to Spanish:

Her sister is good-looking.

Answer 17

Su hermana es guapa.

“sister” = la hermana

Question 18

Translate to Spanish:

We’re siblings.

Answer 18

Somos hermanos.

“siblings” = los hermanos

Again, we use the masculine term (“brothers”) even though the people we’re referring to might be of mixed genders.

Question 19

Translate to Spanish:

Who is his wife?

Answer 19

¿Quién es su esposa?

“wife” = la esposa, la mujer.

Yes, it sounds a bit sexist to our English ears to call someone “his woman”, but the phrase su mujer is quite common in Spanish.

Question 20

Translate to Spanish:

Her husband is from Spain.

Answer 20

Su marido es de España.

“husband” = el marido, el esposo

It’s more common to say mi marido than mi esposo, since mi esposo (literally “my spouse”) feels quite formal.

Fun fact: Las esposas is also the word for “handcuffs” :)

Question 21

Translate to Spanish:

He’s Sherri’s son.

Answer 21

Él es el hijo de Sherri.

“son” = el hijo

Question 22

Translate to Spanish:

Are you Pat’s daughter?

Answer 22

¿Eres la hija de Pat?

“daughter” = la hija

Question 23

Translate to Spanish:

my kids

Answer 23

mis hijos

“kids/children (offspring)” = los hijos

While this could mean just “sons” as well, remember that we use the masculine plural whenever the group is a mixed gender, so this could also translate to “sons & daughters” (or simply “kids” in English).

Question 24

Translate to Spanish:

I love you, buddy.

Answer 24

Te quiero, amigo.

The phrase te quiero, while it could be used between romantic partners, is more casual and is often used between friends and extended family members.

Question 25

Translate to Spanish:

I love you.

Answer 25

Te amo.

The phrase te amo is a romantic phrase typically reserved for people who are in love.

Question 26

Translate to Spanish:

My first name is Sam. My last name is Jones.

Answer 26

Mi nombre es Sam. Mi apellido es Jones.

“name” = el nombre
“last name” = el apellido

While you still typically ask someone’s name by asking ¿Cómo te llamas? (“How do you call yourself?”), the technical word for a first name is el nombre.

You might see the words nombre and apellido on a government immigration form, for example.