The family in Spain: vocabulary, idiomatic expressions, customs and types of families Today we are going to dedicate this article to the family, which is something very important for the Spanish. At Christmas, it is common to spend many days with her for long meals and after-dinner meals. But we don't just see each other in
Today we are going to dedicate this article to the family, which is something very important for the Spanish.
At Christmas, it is common to spend many days with her for long meals and after-dinner meals.
But we don't just see each other at Christmas, family gatherings are normal throughout the year.
There are families that even meet every Sunday throughout the year.
stay with me because In this article you will learn very interesting things:
The activities will consist of two games to practice family vocabulary in Spanish.
Sounds interesting, right?
Well let's get to it! 😉
We start with the vocabulary of names of family members that make up the structure of the family.
Surely you didn't know many of the words we are going to see now.
It is one of the fundamental members of the family. The father, along with the mother, is the one who has the children.
The person who gives birth and gives us life. Together with the father, the mother raises us and educates us until we get older.
They say to have children It changes your life forever. Parents watch these little people grow from the time they fit in the palm of their hand until they become adults.
If the parents have more than one child, these will be brothers between them.
Do you have brothers?
Sometimes the brothers they get along well and other times they argue a lot. However, the love between brothers is very strong.
In Spain, brothers usually get along well and will spend their lives supporting each other. 💪
The parents of the parents are the grandparents.
It is a very important figure in the members of a Spanish family.
When parents work and cannot take care of your children children, they often turn to their grandparents to take care of them.
Therefore, children always they adore their grandparents.
Children adore their grandparents. And vice versa?
Of course too. 😁
The children's children are called grandchildren.
Grandparents love spending time with their grandchildren and playing with them.
It's like having children for the second time, but without the responsibility of having to educate them, that's what parents are there for.
Being a grandparent has all the advantages!
We continue with this family genealogical tree in Spanish.
If my mother or father has siblings, they will be my uncles.
In Spain, uncles are a very important part of the family and below we will see why.
The nephews They are the children of our brothers.
In Spain, it is normal that there is a lot complicity between uncles and nephews because we have a lot honey towards the children of our brothers.
That is why I said that the figure of the uncle or aunt is very appreciated.
Our uncles' children are ourscousins.
In Spanish families, cousins interact frequently and play a lot when they are little.
As adults, it is normal for them to continue seeing each other often to chat and remember the memorable childhood moments.
The brother-in-law or sister-in-law He is my brother or sister's partner.
Is there usually good relationship with brothers-in-law?
In general yes. As I said, family gatherings are often common and it is normal to get along just for the sake of spending time together.
The in-laws They are the parents of my husband or my wife.
How dreaded the first dinner with the in-laws is when we are young.
No one is saved from this. 😂
The son-in-law is he husband of someone's daughter.
A clarification: in marriage, the word husband is the same as husband. Also wife is equal to woman.
The term 'husband' does not exist.
daughter-in-law She is the wife of a person's son.
As you see, we have a different word depending on whether it is a man or a woman.
It is the only case in which a different word is used to refer to the same family member.
After this description of the family members, we continue with more vocabulary; now of idiomatic expressions with family.
Don't you know what the idiomatic expressions?
The idiomatic expressions in Spanish are popular expressions that have a complete and metaphorical meaning and that we use a lot, especially in a more informal register.
That meaning is sometimes easy to understand just with the expression, but other times it is a little more difficult.
Let's look at ten and I'll explain them to you. 😉
Be the head of the family refers to the person who has the role of boss within family nucleus.
Historically, the head of the family was always the father, although in recent years there are more and more mothers who are the heads of their homes.
When you were little, were you never told that you were too young to do anything or understand something?
Many children or adolescents are denied doing something simply because of their age.
That's where the expression comes from when you are a father you will eat eggs.
It means that adulthood will give you more rights for the simple fact of already being an older person.
In a way, you will be freer and can do what you want.
I find this idiomatic expression very funny.
Imagine that we are at a birthday party and there are many people, there are barely any chairs for all the guests.
Then, suddenly a large group of people comes that we were not expecting.
That's when we can say: << We were few and the grandmother gave birth>>.
That is to say, there were too many people and on top of that the grandmother, surprisingly, started having children, so there were even more people. 🤣
To understand it well, it is necessary to understand the Spanish sense of humor, which is often based on the irony.
This idiom can also be used in a context where very bad things happen and the situation gets even worse.
Take out of mother means make someone very angry.
Example:
Before we have seen that brothers-in-law are the partners of our brothers.
Well, there is also an expression with this word that is not positive at all.
When we say that a person He is a brother-in-law, It mainly means that this person he thinks he knows everything and that give your opinion on any topic without having solid arguments.
Why is the term <<brother-in-law>> used for something so derogatory?
Perhaps it is because the brother-in-law is a new figure in the family and to try to integrate into the family he thinks he must appear to be a strong and intelligent person, with a lot of conviction in what he says.
That is why it can often seem a know-it-all who really doesn't know what he's saying.
do the cousin It is also something negative.
It's when we feel that someone is taking advantage of us because of our innocence or excessive kindness.
Example:
Sometimes it is also said when we are dedicating effort at something but really it won't have any results and we are wasting time.
Another expression that has negative connotations. 😅
It is said that someone is << a daddy's son>> when has economic power or good status social thanks to his parents, and not to one's own merit.
This expression is very positive. 👏
It is necessary to clarify that the word 'uncle' or 'aunt' in Spanish it not only refers to the family member, but also It can be said in general for anyone, informally.
If we say that someone he is a good guy or one good aunt, it means that person is very physically attractive.
We could think that be a good guy or one good aunt It's the same as being a good guy or a good aunt.
But no, the meaning is very different. We say that someone is a good guy when He is a good person, he has a lot of kindness. 😇
Are you clear?
I repeat: if someone is a good guy it is because he is very handsome and attractive, and if someone is a good guy it is because he is a good person.
Simply by changing the adjective from place to place, the meaning is totally different.
We can say that someone he doesn't have a grandmother when he is very proud, loves himself very much and lacks humility.
Example:
We have already seen a lot of vocabulary and expressions.
Would you like to talk a little about family relationships in Spain?
Let's see some customs and traditionsso that you better understand what the description of the typical Spanish family is like.
For many Spaniards, family is the most important thing. Therefore, the family gatherings are common; not only with parents and siblings, but also with uncles, cousins, grandparents, brothers-in-law, etc.
At these meetings, the most typical family activities are Sunday meals in a chalet or in a country house of one of the relatives. The most typical family meals in Valencia they are the paellas.
The Spaniards take a long time to emancipate of their parents.
Spanish parents do not usually pressure their children to leave home.
A Spaniard will feel very proud of introduce your family to your friends or partner.
If we really appreciate these people, at some point they are going to have to meet our family.
Children often take care of their parents when they are older.
Instead of putting them in nursing homes, they live with their children in their homes. Therefore, there are homes in which people of different generations live together: parents, children and grandparents.
The role of grandparents It is very important when parents have small children. These are the favorite caregivers when the father and mother work.
Now I'm sure you understand the Spanish people a little better and how we behave with the family.
Today there are many family types.
Are you curious to know what types of families are the most characteristic in Spain?
For sure yes!
Let's look at this new vocabulary related to family.
The definition of nuclear family would be that of a two-parent family that follows the model of traditional family composed of father, mother and children (can be one or more).
It is the most common family model in Spain.
What is an extended family?
The extended family refers to the others family members: grandparents, uncles, cousins, nephews...
They usually don't all live together; although as we have said before, sometimes there are exceptions, especially with grandparents.
What is the single parent family?
The single parent family is that formed by a single parent and one or more children.
That is, in single-parent family units there is only the father or mother with the children.
The reconstituted or compound family is formed with a couple and the children who belong to only one of the members of the couple.
That is, they are couples with children from other previous relationships that one of the two members had.
A homoparental family is made up of fathers or mothers of the same sex.
To have children, these couples usually resort to adoption or to artificial insemination. With these methods, two women can have children without men and vice versa.
When parents who have children separate, this createsseparated parents family.
In Spain, children can live with either of them and visit the other whenever they want.
A multinuclear family is made up of one traditional parent-child family plus other unrelated children with that family. For example, adopted children.
In this way, family diversity can be created.
The single family is made up of a single single person.
The family DINK is a family without children.
They are couples who do not intend to have them in the near future because their priority is work, earning money and enjoying free time.
The acronyms DINK they mean in english «Double Income, No Kids».
The Spanish translation would be: "Double income, no children."
What is a family LAT?
The families LAT are made up of couples who do not live together but in different houses.
LAT means «Living Apart Together».
In Spanish we say "Living with you but without you."
Let's go with activities to practice!
Is the use of familiar idiomatic expressions clear to you?
Let's check it with the following spanish exercise. 😊
There are eight sentences in which you must drag the correct idiom to each example.
You have the solutions in the exercise itself. Luck!
In this activity I present to you a crossword with vocabularyof family members, idiomatic expressions and family typologies in Spanish.
*Across It is horizontal. down It is vertical.
I hope you enjoy it!
What did you think of the article?
Surely you have learned a lot about family and vocabulary new that you didn't know
Do you want to continue learning things about family and more vocabulary in Spanish?
Would you like improve your level of Spanish in a pleasant environment with a native teacher and other classmates?
Then I encourage you to visit our website. Hispania, Spanish school and look at our face-to-face Spanish courses and online.
If you have any questions you can contact us whenever you want.
What do you think about the way we Spaniards understand family? Is there something that catches your attention?
Tell us in the comments! 😉
Article written by Carlos Martinez for Hispania, Spanish school.
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