La familia — Core Family Vocabulary
👨👩👧👦 La familia — Core Family Vocabulary
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| la madre / la mamá | mother / mum |
| el padre / el papá | father / dad |
| el/la hermano/a | brother / sister |
| el/la abuelo/a | grandfather / grandmother |
| el/la tío/a | uncle / aunt |
| el/la primo/a | cousin (m/f) |
| el/la hijo/a | son / daughter |
| la pareja | partner |
| el/la novio/a | boyfriend / girlfriend |
| los padres | parents (always plural) |
| los abuelos | grandparents |
⭐ Key grammar point — tengo, not hay
Tengo is the verb to use for family members: Tengo un hermano mayor. (I have an older brother.) Not hay. The verb hay means "there is / there are" and is used impersonally — it sounds unnatural when the family is your own. Compare: Tengo dos hermanos (personal) vs Hay dos estudiantes en la clase (impersonal).
Use these structures to describe who is in your family. AQA examiners expect you to be able to both produce and understand them across all four papers.
Earn the mark scheme marks
💡 Common Errors — Paper 4 Writing Traps
These two errors appear in AQA mark schemes as frequently penalised mistakes. Memorise the corrections before your writing paper.
❌ Error 1: Hay una hermana en mi familia.
✅ Correct: Tengo una hermana.
Why it costs marks: When saying you have a sibling, use tengo. The verb hay (there is/are) is used impersonally and sounds unnatural when the family is your own. Tengo un hermano mayor is the correct personal construction. AQA rewards natural, idiomatic Spanish — hay una hermana reads as a direct translation from English and undermines your AO3 (accuracy) score.
❌ Error 2: Mis padres son divorciados.
✅ Correct: Mis padres están divorciados.
Why it costs marks: Marital status uses estar (temporary/changeable state), not ser. The error of using son (ser) for marital status is one of the most penalised mistakes in AQA Paper 4 (Writing). Ser is for permanent identity — being divorced is not a permanent, unchangeable characteristic in the way that being Spanish or being a doctor might be. Memorise: estar for marital status, every time.
Now try it yourself
Quiz · Question 1 of 13
Tap an answer to check it