Spanish Language: Family, Professions, Nationalities, and Adjectives

Spanish Vocabulary and Grammar Notes

Family Vocabulary

• Grandfather: El abuelo

• Great-grandmother: La bisabuela

• Step- relatives: Anything with "step-" will use the ending -astro or -astra

  • Stepbrother: El hermanastro

  • Stepsister: La hermanastra

  • Stepfather: El padrastro

  • Stepmother: La madrastra

• Brother: El hermano

• Sister: La hermana

• Half-brother: El medio hermano

• Half-sister: La media hermana

• Parents: Los padres (Note: Different from "relatives")

• Relatives: Los parientes

• Mother: La madre (formal), La mamá (informal/nickname), Mami

• Father: El padre (formal), El papá (informal/nickname), Papi

• Brother-in-law: El cuñado

• Daughter-in-law: La nuera

• Father-in-law: El suegro

• Mother-in-law: La suegra

• Son-in-law: El yerno

• Last name: El apellido

• Boy: El chico, El muchacho, El niño

• Girl: La chica, La muchacha, La niña

• Child: El niño / La niña

• Children: Los hijos (can refer to mixed-gender children or just sons)

• Boyfriend: El novio

• Girlfriend: La novia

• Person: La persona

• Husband: El esposo

• Wife: La esposa

• Family: La familia

• Son: El hijo

• Daughter: La hija

• Grandson: El nieto

• Granddaughter: La nieta

• Grandparents: Los abuelos

• Male cousin: El primo

• Female cousin: La prima

• Nephew: El sobrino

• Niece: La sobrina

• Aunt: La tía

• Uncle: El tío

• Twins (feminine): Las gemelas

Professions Vocabulary

• Artist: El/La artista

• Doctor/Physician: El/La doctor/a, El/La médico/a

• Engineer: El/La ingeniero/a

• Journalist: El/La periodista

• Computer programmer: El/La programador/a

Adjectives (Descriptive) Vocabulary

• Unpleasant / Hard to get along with: Antipático/a

• Short (in height): Bajo/a

• Nasty / Bad: Malo/a

• Pretty / Good-looking: Bonito/a, Guapo/a

• Good: Bueno/a

• Thin: Delgado/a

• Easy: Fácil

• Ugly: Feo/a

• Fat: Gordo/a

• Big / Large: Grande

• Important: Importante

• Intelligent: Inteligente

• Interesting: Interesante

• Young: Joven

• Same: Mismo/a

• Red-haired: Pelirrojo/a

• Small: Pequeño/a

• Nice / Easy to get along with: Simpático/a

• Foolish: Tonto/a

• Hardworking: Trabajador/a

• Old: Viejo/a

Nationalities Vocabulary

• German: Alemán/a

• Argentinian: Argentino/a

• Canadian: Canadiense

• Chinese: Chino/a

• Costa Rican: Costarricense

• Cuban: Cubano/a

• Dominican: Dominicano/a

• Ecuadorian: Ecuatoriano/a

• Spanish: Español/a

• From the United States: Estadounidense, Norteamericano/a

• French: Francés/a

• English: Inglés/a

• Italian: Italiano/a

• Japanese: Japonés/a

• Mexican: Mexicano/a

• Puerto Rican: Puertorriqueño/a

• Russian: Ruso/a

• Venezuelan: Venezolano/a

Verbs Vocabulary

• To open: Abrir

• To learn: Aprender

• To attend: Asistir

• To drink: Beber

• To eat: Comer

• To share: Compartir

• To understand: Comprender

• To run: Correr

• To believe in: Creer en

• Should / Must: Deber

• To decide: Decidir

• To describe: Describir

• To write: Escribir

• To receive: Recibir

• To have: Tener

• To come: Venir

• To live: Vivir

Cultural Notes on Language Use

• Addressing Parents: In informal situations, it's more common to use "mamá / papá" or even nicknames like "mami / papi" instead of the more formal "madre / padre." Formal terms are reserved for non-direct address, business, or general reference.

• Nicknames (Apodos): Highly common in Hispanic culture among couples, friends, and family. These can sometimes sound unusual or even rude to non-native speakers but are affectionate.

  • Examples include "Gordo / Gorda" (literally "fat") or "Flaco / Flaca" (literally "thin") even if the person isn't physically fat or thin.

• Costa Rican Nicknames for US People: In Costa Rica, people from the United States may be called "Gringo / Gringa," or affectionately "Gringito / Gringita." While "rubio / rubia" means blonde, "macho / macha" (literally "manly" or "man") is also used as a nickname for blonde-haired individuals, and sometimes extended to refer to any person from the United States, regardless of their hair color.

  • People from the US are often identified quickly by locals based on their demeanor, clothing, and the way they carry themselves, even on a brief encounter.

Grammar: Descriptive Adjectives

• Function: Adjectives are words that describe people, places, and things. In Spanish, descriptive adjectives are typically used with the verb "ser" to indicate characteristics like nationality, size, color, shape, personality, and appearance.

• Agreement in Spanish: Unlike English, Spanish descriptive adjectives must agree in both gender (masculine or feminine) and number (singular or plural) with the noun or pronoun they describe.

  • Example (gender): Juan es simpático. (Juan is nice.) Elena es simpática. (Elena is nice.)

  • Example (number): Juan y Ben son simpáticos. (Juan and Ben are nice.) Elena y Ana son simpáticas. (Elena and Ana are nice.)

• Forms of Adjectives:

  • Adjectives ending in -o: Have four forms, changing -o to -a for feminine singular, and adding -s for plural forms.

    • Masculine Singular: alto (tall)

    • Feminine Singular: alta

    • Masculine Plural: altos

    • Feminine Plural: altas

  • Adjectives ending in -e or a consonant: Generally have the same masculine and feminine forms for the singular. Plurals are formed by adding -s (for -e endings) or -es (for consonant endings).

    • Example (ending in -e): inteligente (masculine/feminine singular) -> inteligentes (masculine/feminine plural)

    • Example (ending in a consonant): difícil (masculine/feminine singular) -> difíciles (masculine/feminine plural)

  • Adjectives ending in -or: These are variable in both gender and number. The feminine singular is formed by adding -a. Plural forms are then made by adding -es to the masculine singular or -s to the feminine singular.

    • Masculine Singular: trabajador (hardworking)

    • Feminine Singular: trabajadora

    • Masculine Plural: trabajadores

    • Feminine Plural: trabajadoras

• Mixed-Gender Groups: When referring to a group that includes both males and females, the masculine plural form of the adjective is always used.

Grammar: Adjectives of Nationality

• Capitalization: In Spanish, adjectives of nationality are not capitalized, unlike in English. However, the proper names of countries are capitalized.

• Formation and Agreement: Adjectives of nationality follow similar agreement rules to other descriptive adjectives.

  • Ending in -o: Change to -a when forming the feminine. Plural forms add -s.

    • Examples: chino (\rightarrow china, chinos, chinas); cubano (\rightarrow cubana, cubanos, cubanas).

  • Ending in -e: These adjectives typically have only two forms: singular and plural, with no distinct masculine/feminine forms.

    • Examples: canadiense (\rightarrow canadienses); costarricense (\rightarrow costarricenses).

  • Ending in a consonant: Add -a to form the feminine singular. Plurals are then formed by adding -es to the masculine form (e.g., alemán \rightarrow alemanes) or -s to the feminine form (e.g., alemana \rightarrow alemanas).

    • Examples: alemán (\rightarrow alemana, alemanes, alemanas); japonés (\rightarrow japonesa, japoneses, japonesas); español (\rightarrow española, españoles, españolas); inglés (\rightarrow inglesa, ingleses, inglesas).

Grammar: Adjective Placement

• General Rule: Descriptive adjectives and adjectives of nationality generally follow the noun they modify.

  • Example: El chico rubio es de España. (The blonde boy is from Spain.)

  • Example: La mujer española habla inglés. (The Spanish woman speaks English.)

• Adjectives of Quantity: These adjectives always precede the modified noun.

  • Example: Hay muchos libros en la biblioteca. (There are many books in the library.)

• Special Cases: \text{bueno} (good), \text{malo} (bad), \text{grande} (big/large/great):

  • When \text{bueno} or \text{malo} appear before a masculine singular noun, they are shortened to \text{buen} and \text{mal} respectively.

    • Example: Joaquín es un buen amigo. (Joaquin is a good friend.)

    • Example: Hoy es un mal día. (Today is a bad day.)

  • When \text{grande} appears before a singular noun, it is shortened to \text{gran}, and its meaning changes from "big" or "large" to "great."

    • Example: Don Francisco es un gran hombre. (Don Francisco is a great man.)

    • Contrast: Don Francisco es un hombre grande. (Don Francisco is a large man.) - Here, "grande" follows the noun, retaining its original meaning of size.

    • It is crucial to use the correct form and placement to convey the intended meaning (e.g., complimenting someone as "great" vs. implying they are "large" in size).

Practice Examples (from textbook exercises)

• Identifying family members in a family tree (e.g., "Mi abuela", "Mi sobrino", "Mi nieta", "Mi tía", "Mi prima", "El nieto").

• Completing sentences with appropriate vocabulary.

  • "Las chicas son idénticas porque son gemelas." (The girls are identical because they are twins.)

  • "El esposo de mi hermana es mi cuñado." (My sister's husband is my brother-in-law.)

  • "La periodista usa dos apellidos." (The female journalist uses two last names.)

  • "Ella es la esposa de mi papá, pero no es mi madre. Ella es mi madrastra." (She is my dad's wife, but she is not my mother. She is my stepmother.)

  • "El padre de mi madre es mi abuelo." (My mother's father is my grandfather.)

  • "La familia es grande." (The family is large.)

  • "Hector y Lupita son novios." (Hector and Lupita are boyfriend and girlfriend.)

  • "Mi familia no es grande, pero es interesante." (My family is not large, but it is interesting.)

Categorization of Family

• Immediate Family (e.g., Hermano, Padre, Hijo)

• Extended Family (e.g., Yerno, Abuelo, Tía)

Definitions Practice

• Defining family roles in words (e.g., a mother is the female parent, a nephew is the son of one's brother or sister).