Mi Familia
Introduce your relatives, share one real fact about each, and ask about theirs — out loud.
Family words come in gendered pairs — hermano / hermana, tío / tía — with -o for men and -a for women, and the frame tengo un hermano y una hermana introduces them. In real speech Latin Americans say mi papá and mi mamá, almost never padre / madre. The move that makes you sound natural: give one fact per person — es mayor que yo, mi madre es profesora — then hand the turn back with ¿y tú? instead of listing your whole family tree in one breath.
Below: the family phrases lesson by lesson, what dad and mom become in Mexico and Argentina, the gender slips that give you away — and a dinner-table chat to rehearse it all out loud.
The warm-up pack
How to introduce your family in Spanish, one relative and one fact at a time — and how to ask about theirs.
01 · Introduce your immediate family
Tengo un hermano y una hermana.
I have one brother and one sister.
The frame that opens the whole topic — swap in your own numbers and you're introducing your family in one line.
02 · Name who's who
Mi padre. Mi madre.
My father. My mother. — In real conversation almost everyone says mi papá and mi mamá instead.
Padre and madre are what's written down; papá and mamá are what's actually said out loud.
03 · The extended family
Mi abuelo. Mi abuela.
My grandfather. My grandmother.
Same -o / -a pattern as hermano/hermana — once you see it, the whole family tree follows the rule.
04 · Aunts, uncles, cousins
Mi tío. Mi tía. Mi primo.
My uncle. My aunt. My cousin (male).
For a female cousin, swap the ending: mi prima. The same -o/-a rule holds across the whole extended family.
05 · Older or younger
Es mayor que yo. Es menor que yo.
He/she is older than me. He/she is younger than me.
The comparison that comes up in every family conversation — pair it with a name and you're describing your sibling order.
06 · How many of you
Somos cuatro en mi familia.
There are four of us in my family. — Swap the number for your own family size.
Simple headcount, no complicated grammar — just somos plus the number.
07 · One fact, not five
Mi madre es profesora.
My mother is a teacher.
One detail per relative — a job, an age, or a trait — then pass the turn. Piling on facts is what overloads a beginner.
08 · Add a personality trait
Mi hermana es simpática. Le encanta cocinar.
My sister is nice. She loves to cook.
A trait plus one thing they love turns a name into an actual person in the conversation.
09 · Ask if they have siblings
¿Tienes hermanos?
Do you have siblings?
The reciprocal question that keeps the conversation from turning into a monologue about your own family.
10 · Ask where their family lives
¿Dónde vive tu familia?
Where does your family live?
A natural follow-up once you've covered who's who — it shows real interest, not just politeness.
11 · Ask what a parent does
¿A qué se dedica tu padre?
What does your father do?
Works for any relative — swap padre for madre, hermano, or whoever you're asking about.
FLUENT
Finally, someone to talk to in Spanish.
Ten-minute spoken lessons. A teacher who answers back — and gently fixes what you got wrong.
First 10 lessons freeandbefluent.com/spanish/mi-familiaRegional Spanish
Textbooks teach one word. Locals use several — pick your region's and stay consistent.
| English | Mexico | Argentina |
|---|---|---|
| dad | mi papá | mi viejo |
| mom | mi mamá | mi vieja |
| do you have siblings? | ¿tienes carnales? | ¿vos tenés hermanos? |
| really nice (a person) | bien buena onda | re copada |
Watch out
The part no phrase list can do
Isabella
Your conversation teacher for this pack
In the Mi Familia pack, the final lesson is a long dinner-table chat — and Isabella plays your host mom, warm and talkative, pouring coffee after the meal. She wants to meet your family properly, so you swipe through photos on your phone: who's who, one detail each — an age, a job, a trait — and every time you name a new relative she asks to see the photo again. Then she turns it around and quizzes you on her own big family, so you'd better have ¿tienes hermanos? and ¿dónde vive tu familia? ready. Out loud — and she talks back.
Blank mid-sentence and nothing bad happens — she waits. That's the practice, without unnecessary judgement.
Finish the 5 lessons and Mi Familia is yours — earned, not given.
First 10 lessons free · 10-minute spoken lessons · your AI coaching team remembers you
Quick answers
Immediate family: mi padre, mi madre, mi hermano, mi hermana. Extended: mi abuelo / mi abuela (grandparents), mi tío / mi tía, mi primo (cousin). In conversation, use mi papá and mi mamá — that's what people actually say.
Es mayor que yo — he/she is older than me; es menor que yo — younger than me. Casually, Latin Americans also say mi hermano el grande / el chico, and the affectionate mi hermanito survives well into adulthood.
Tengo un hermano y una hermana. If you're an only child: soy hijo único. And ask it back — ¿tienes hermanos? — because hermanos covers siblings of both sexes.
They're affectionate slang for parents. In Argentina, mi viejo / mi vieja is a warm way to say dad / mom — not an insult. Across Latin America you'll also hear mi jefe / mi jefa (literally 'my boss') for the same thing.
One simple fact per person: an age (tiene treinta años), a job (mi madre es profesora), or a trait (mi hermana es simpática, le encanta cocinar). Then pause and pass the turn — piling three facts on one relative is what overloads beginners.
