4.3.9
Describing Family
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Hablando de tu Familia - Talking About Your Family

Key vocab
- Un hijo único - only child.
- Mayor - older.
- Menor - younger.
- Llevarse bien/mal con - to get on well/badly with.
- Una barrera generacional - generation gap.

Mi familia
- Mi familia es pequeña. Somos tres personas; mi madre, mi padre y yo. Soy hijo único.
- My family is small. There are three people in my family; my mum, my dad and me. I m an only child.
- Tengo un hermano y una hermana.
- I have one brother and one sister.
- Flora es la hermana mayor.
- Flora is the eldest sister.

Mi familia
- ¿Cuántas personas forman parte de tu familia?
- How many people are in your family?
- Somos seis personas en mi familia: mis padres, mis dos hermanas mayores, mi hermano menor y yo.
- There are six people in my family: my parents, my two older sisters, my younger brother and me.
Usted y su Familia - Yourself and Your Family

Describing yourself
- When you are describing yourself physically, you will always use 'soy'.
- Soy alto y delgado.
- I am tall and thin.
- Soy simpático y honrado.
- I am nice and honest.
- Soy alto y delgado.

Hair
- To talk about your hair, you need to use 'tener'.
- Tengo el pelo rubio.
- I have blond hair.
- Tengo el pelo rubio.
- 'Pelo' must stay in the singular.

Describing others
- When describing other people, you will use the 'él/ella' form or 'ellos/ellas' form of the verbs.
- Mi hermano es bajo y gordo. Tiene el pelo rojo.
- My brother is short and fat. He has red hair.
- Mis hermanas son gemelas (👯). Son simpáticas.
- My sisters are twins. They are kind.
- Mi padre se llama Pedro.
- My dad is called Peter.
- Mi hermano es bajo y gordo. Tiene el pelo rojo.
1The Basics
1.1Pronouns
1.2Verbs
1.3Nouns
1.4Adjectives
1.5Abbreviations
2Home & Abroad
2.2Holiday
2.4Everyday Life, Traditions & Communities
3Education & Employment
3.2School Trips
3.4Future Plans
4Personal Life & Relationships
4.1House & Home
4.2Daily Routines & Helping at Home
4.3Family & Friends
5The World Around Us
5.1Environmental Issues
5.2Weather
5.3Travel & Transport
5.5Information & Communication
6Social Activities, Fitness & Health
6.1Special Occasions
6.2Hobbies & Interests
6.3Shopping & Money Matters
6.4Injuries, Illness & Health
7Listening
7.1Town & Region
7.2Holiday
7.3Customs
7.4Education
7.5Personal Life & Relationships
7.6The Media & Technology
7.7Social Activities
7.8The Environment
7.9Fitness & Health
8Common Tenses
8.1Present Tense
8.1.1Regular AR Verbs8.1.2Negative Verbs8.1.3Irregular AR Verbs8.1.4Irregular AR Verbs: Exceptions8.1.5Regular ER Verbs8.1.6Irregular ER Verbs8.1.7Irregular ER Verbs 28.1.8Regular IR Verbs8.1.9Irregular IR Verbs8.1.10Irregular IR Verbs 28.1.11Irregular IR Verbs 38.1.12Irregular IR Verbs 48.1.13Verb Phrases8.1.14The Use of 'Se'
8.2Preterite Tense
8.2.1Regular AR Verbs8.2.2Irregular AR Verbs (1/4)8.2.3Irregular AR Verbs (2/4)8.2.4Irregular AR Verbs (3/4)8.2.5Irregular AR Verbs (4/4)8.2.6Regular ER Verbs8.2.7Irregular ER Verbs (1/5)8.2.8Irregular ER Verbs (2/5)8.2.9Irregular ER Verbs (3/5)8.2.10Irregular ER Verbs (4/5)8.2.11Irregular ER Verbs (5/5)8.2.12Regular IR Verbs8.2.13Irregular IR Verbs (1/6)8.2.14Irregular IR Verbs (2/6)8.2.15Irregular IR Verbs (3/6)8.2.16Irregular IR Verbs (4/6)8.2.17Irregular IR Verbs (5/6)8.2.18Irregular IR Verbs (6/6)
8.3Imperfect Tense
8.4Preterite vs Imperfect Tenses
8.5Future Tense
9Important Verbs
9.1To Be - 'Ser' & 'Estar'
9.2To Like - 'Gustar'
9.3To Have - 'Tener'
10Advanced Tenses
10.1The Simple Future
10.2Conditional Tense
10.3Continuous Tenses
10.4Perfect Tense
10.5Present Subjunctive
10.5.1Present Subjunctive: AR Verbs10.5.2Present Subjunctive: ER Verbs10.5.3Present Subjunctive: IR Verbs10.5.4Irregular AR Verbs (1/3)10.5.5Irregular AR Verbs (2/3)10.5.6Irregular AR Verbs (3/3)10.5.7Irregular ER Verbs (1/2)10.5.8Irregular ER Verbs (2/2)10.5.9Irregular IR Verbs (1/3)10.5.10Irregular IR Verbs (2/3)10.5.11Irregular IR Verbs (3/3)10.5.12The Verb 'Ir'10.5.13Subjunctive Uses
10.6Imperfect Subjunctive
11Extra Grammar
11.2Negatives
11.3Nouns
11.4Asking Questions
11.5Adjectives
11.6Adverbs
11.7Conjunctions
11.8Pronouns
11.9By, With, From, Of
11.10Verbs
11.11Comparisons
Jump to other topics
1The Basics
1.1Pronouns
1.2Verbs
1.3Nouns
1.4Adjectives
1.5Abbreviations
2Home & Abroad
2.2Holiday
2.4Everyday Life, Traditions & Communities
3Education & Employment
3.2School Trips
3.4Future Plans
4Personal Life & Relationships
4.1House & Home
4.2Daily Routines & Helping at Home
4.3Family & Friends
5The World Around Us
5.1Environmental Issues
5.2Weather
5.3Travel & Transport
5.5Information & Communication
6Social Activities, Fitness & Health
6.1Special Occasions
6.2Hobbies & Interests
6.3Shopping & Money Matters
6.4Injuries, Illness & Health
7Listening
7.1Town & Region
7.2Holiday
7.3Customs
7.4Education
7.5Personal Life & Relationships
7.6The Media & Technology
7.7Social Activities
7.8The Environment
7.9Fitness & Health
8Common Tenses
8.1Present Tense
8.1.1Regular AR Verbs8.1.2Negative Verbs8.1.3Irregular AR Verbs8.1.4Irregular AR Verbs: Exceptions8.1.5Regular ER Verbs8.1.6Irregular ER Verbs8.1.7Irregular ER Verbs 28.1.8Regular IR Verbs8.1.9Irregular IR Verbs8.1.10Irregular IR Verbs 28.1.11Irregular IR Verbs 38.1.12Irregular IR Verbs 48.1.13Verb Phrases8.1.14The Use of 'Se'
8.2Preterite Tense
8.2.1Regular AR Verbs8.2.2Irregular AR Verbs (1/4)8.2.3Irregular AR Verbs (2/4)8.2.4Irregular AR Verbs (3/4)8.2.5Irregular AR Verbs (4/4)8.2.6Regular ER Verbs8.2.7Irregular ER Verbs (1/5)8.2.8Irregular ER Verbs (2/5)8.2.9Irregular ER Verbs (3/5)8.2.10Irregular ER Verbs (4/5)8.2.11Irregular ER Verbs (5/5)8.2.12Regular IR Verbs8.2.13Irregular IR Verbs (1/6)8.2.14Irregular IR Verbs (2/6)8.2.15Irregular IR Verbs (3/6)8.2.16Irregular IR Verbs (4/6)8.2.17Irregular IR Verbs (5/6)8.2.18Irregular IR Verbs (6/6)
8.3Imperfect Tense
8.4Preterite vs Imperfect Tenses
8.5Future Tense
9Important Verbs
9.1To Be - 'Ser' & 'Estar'
9.2To Like - 'Gustar'
9.3To Have - 'Tener'
10Advanced Tenses
10.1The Simple Future
10.2Conditional Tense
10.3Continuous Tenses
10.4Perfect Tense
10.5Present Subjunctive
10.5.1Present Subjunctive: AR Verbs10.5.2Present Subjunctive: ER Verbs10.5.3Present Subjunctive: IR Verbs10.5.4Irregular AR Verbs (1/3)10.5.5Irregular AR Verbs (2/3)10.5.6Irregular AR Verbs (3/3)10.5.7Irregular ER Verbs (1/2)10.5.8Irregular ER Verbs (2/2)10.5.9Irregular IR Verbs (1/3)10.5.10Irregular IR Verbs (2/3)10.5.11Irregular IR Verbs (3/3)10.5.12The Verb 'Ir'10.5.13Subjunctive Uses
10.6Imperfect Subjunctive
11Extra Grammar
11.2Negatives
11.3Nouns
11.4Asking Questions
11.5Adjectives
11.6Adverbs
11.7Conjunctions
11.8Pronouns
11.9By, With, From, Of
11.10Verbs
11.11Comparisons
Practice questions on Describing Family
Can you answer these? Test yourself with free interactive practice on Seneca — used by over 10 million students.
- 1How do you say 'my older brother' in Spanish?Multiple choice
- 2Select the correct words in Spanish:True / false
- 3How do you say 'they are sensitive'?Multiple choice
- 4Complete the translations:Fill in the list
- 5
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