In Spanish, your cousin is your primo/prima. Family relationships are important in Spanish-speaking cultures, so it’s highly likely you’ll have the opportunity to talk about or even introduce your cousins.
Master these Spanish words for family and when to use each one, and you’ll be able to identify everyone in the family reunion photo and talk about these special people in no time.
Table of Contents
Primo/prima (cousin)
The word for “cousin” in Spanish is either primo (male cousin) or prima (female cousin). This is the standard word for the hijo/hija (son/daughter) of your tío/tía (uncle/aunt).
- El hijo de mi tía es mi primo. = My aunt’s son is my cousin.
- Isabela es mi prima. Es la hija de mi tío Manuel. = Isabela is my cousin. She is my uncle Manuel’s daughter.
Primos/primas (cousins)
If you’re referring to more than one cousin as a group, you have two options. You would use mis primos (my cousins) to talk about multiple male cousins or a mixed group of both male and female cousins. If you’re referring to multiple female cousins, you would say mis primas (my cousins).
This difference is due to the standard Spanish gender rules about plural nouns. The feminine plural noun is only used when the group is composed exclusively of female members, whereas the masculine plural can include both genders.
We see this pattern with many groups of family members. As English uses a gender-neutral term like “parents,” it’s worth keeping in mind that words like abuelos could mean either “grandparents” or “grandfathers” in Spanish. The context will usually make it clear though.
- Mis padres vienen este fin de semana. = My parents are coming this weekend.
- Mis tíos tienen tres hijos. = My aunt and uncle have three children.
- ¿Tienes hermanos? = Do you have siblings?
- Sí, tengo tres hermanos y una hermana mayor. = Yes, I have three brothers and an older sister.
Other words for cousins in Spanish
How do you say “cousin” in Spanish when it’s more complicated? Like English, the exact terms for family relationships such as “second cousin once removed,” can be a bit confusing. While it might not be important to be more specific than primo/prima, here are some other ways to describe the relationship with your cousins in Spanish.
| Spanish Word | English Translation |
| los parientes/los familiares | relatives, which can be used as “cousins” colloquially, as in “somewhat related.” |
| el primo lejano/la prima lejana | distant cousin |
| el primo político/la prima política | cousin-in-law (a cousin by marriage) |
| el primo segundo/la prima segunda | the second-cousin (child of your parent’s cousin) |
| el tío segundo/la tía segunda | first cousin once removed (your parent’s cousin) |
Do you use ser or estar to talk about relationships?
Use the verb ser (to be), not estar (to be) to discuss family and friend relationships. This is one use of ser vs. estar that is fairly straightforward.
- María es mi prima. = María is my cousin.
- María y Óscar son mis primos. = María and Óscar are my cousins.
- Somos primos segundos. = We are second-cousins.
- Soy la hija de Jose. = I’m Jose’s daughter.
You’ll also want to master Spanish possessive adjectives so that you can use words like mi/mis (my) and tu/tus (your) correctly.
How to explain a complex family relationship in Spanish
As you move deeper into conversation with a Spanish-speaker or one of Rosetta Stone’s expert tutors, it’s helpful to know the Spanish possessive structure de (of).
With objects, the structure is: possession + de + owner
- la casa de Marta = Marta’s house
Relationships work this way as well: relation + de + person = the person’s relationship
- la novia de mi primo = my cousin’s girlfriend
Listen carefully as Spanish speakers talk about their families. They won’t use the apostrophe “s” because it doesn’t exist in Spanish. Note that the order of the people mentioned is in reverse.
- Ella es la prima de la madre de mi abuelo. = She is my grandfather’s mother’s cousin. (literally, “the cousin of the mother of my grandfather).
- Es la ex-esposa del padre de mi hermanastro. = She’s my step-brother’s father’s ex-wife. (literally, “the ex-wife of the father of my step-brother).
You may need some additional vocabulary if you’re giving a family medical history or talking about different sides of tu árbol genealógico (the family tree).
- paterno/paterna (paternal)
- por parte de mi padre (on my father’s side)
- materno/materna (maternal)
- por parte de mi madre (on my mother’s side)
Family member vocabulary
Now that you know the possible words for “cousin,” try out other common words for family members in Spanish. Many “pairs” of words follow the pattern of the “-o” ending of the masculine noun changing to “-a” for the feminine version.
Notice how Spanish uses the masculine plural form for nouns like “parents,” “children,” and “siblings,” while the feminine words are reserved for words that refer to women and girls only, like “sister” in Spanish.
| Spanish Family Member | English Translation |
| el abuelo/la abuela | the grandfather/the grandmother |
| los abuelos | the grandparents |
| el bisabuelo/la bisabuela | the great-grandfather/the great-grandmother |
| los bisabuelos | the great-grandparents |
| el cuñado/la cuñada | the brother-in-law/the sister-in-law |
| el esposo/la esposa | the husband (spouse)/the wife (spouse) |
| el hermanastro/la hermanastra | the step-brother/the step-mother |
| el hermano/la hermana | the brother/the sister |
| los hermanos | the siblings |
| el hijo/la hija | the son/the daughter |
| los hijos | the children |
| el marido/la mujer | the husband/the wife |
| el nieto/la nieta | the grandson/the granddaughter |
| los nietos | the grandchildren |
| el novio/la novia | the boyfriend/the girlfriendthe groom/the bride |
| el padrastro/la madrastra | the step-father/the step-mother |
| el padre/la madre | the father/the mother |
| los padres | the parents |
| la pareja | the couple/the partner (*this is a feminine singular noun even when it refers to a man). |
| los parientes | the relatives |
| el primo/la prima | the male cousin/the female cousin |
| el prometido/la prometida | the fiancé/the fiancée |
| el suegro/la suegra | the father-in-law/the mother-in-law |
| el tío/la tía | the uncle/the aunt |
| el yerno/la nuera | the son-in-law/the daughter-in-law |
Now you’re ready to meet someone’s abuela (“grandma” in Spanish) and answer questions about your family. Engage even more with Spanish-speaking culture and travel the world with Rosetta Stone.
0 Commentaires