Lesson 3: Family, Basic Adjectives & Describing People

Lesson 3: Family, Basic Adjectives & Describing People

Someone shows you a photo and says Esta es mi hermana — this is my sister. You already know es from Lesson 2. Add a family word and a description, and you can keep the conversation going:

Mi hermana es alta y simpática. — My sister is tall and friendly.

By the end of this lesson, you should be able to introduce people, describe them with matching adjective forms, and distinguish liking an activity from liking someone as a person. You can practise with friends, fictional characters, or an invented family; sharing personal information is optional.

Name the people in a photo

Mujer also means “woman”; context tells you whether someone means “wife.” Papá and mamá mean “dad” and “mum/mom.” You may hear affectionate forms such as abuelito/abuelita for grandparents.

For several of these words, -o/-a distinguishes masculine and feminine: hermano/hermana, hijo/hija. This is a pattern, not a rule for every Spanish noun: padre and madre both end in -e but have different genders.

Plural hermanos can refer to brothers or a mixed group of siblings. Hermanas refers to sisters. If someone says tengo tres hermanas, you know they have three sisters; the sentence does not tell you whether they also have brothers.

Remember that grammatical gender does not describe every detail of a family. Los padres, meaning “the parents,” should not be treated as a complete explanation of a particular household's composition.

Say whose family it is

Mi/mis and tu/tus agree with the number of the noun, not with how many people own it. Tus abuelos still addresses one person using tú; tus is plural because abuelos is plural.

These particular possessives do not change for gender. Other possessives can: compare nuestro hermano and nuestra hermana — our brother and our sister. You will study those forms later.

Mi madre is complete without an article. Say mis padres, not los mis padres, in the standard everyday pattern here. Los padres is also grammatical, but means “the parents,” rather than specifically “my parents.”

Try it: Complete ___ hermana and ___ hermanas to mean “my sister” and “my sisters.”

Check: Mi; mis. The change follows the noun's number.

Describe someone: start with es or son

Ask ¿Cómo es tu hermana? — what is your sister like? — for a description. For several people, ask ¿Cómo son tus hermanos? — what are your siblings like?

Answer with es for one person and son for several:

• Mi hermano es alto. — My brother is tall.
• Mis hermanas son altas. — My sisters are tall.

This uses ser to describe a characteristic. It does not claim the characteristic will last forever. Compare ¿Cómo está tu hermana?, which asks how she is doing or feeling.

Choose an adjective, then make it agree

Many adjectives ending in -o change to -a for a feminine noun. Trabajador shows a different pattern: add -a to make trabajadora. Do not assume every consonant-ending adjective behaves the same way.

Joven ends in -n, not -e. It still has the same form for masculine and feminine. These adjectives have forms that agree with both genders; calling them a separate “neutral gender” would be misleading.

Number matters too: hermanas inteligentes, primos jóvenes, abuelos felices. Notice the written accent in jóvenes and z → c in feliz → felices.

Work through a description

You want to say “my intelligent daughters.”

1. Daughters is hijas, feminine plural.
2. “My” must be plural: mis.
3. Inteligente does not change for gender, but it becomes plural: inteligentes.
4. Put the pieces together: mis hijas inteligentes.

Try it: Change mi hermano simpático to “my friendly sisters.”

Check: Mis hermanas simpáticas. All three words respond to the plural noun; simpático also changes for feminine gender.

Put words together without turning a pattern into a ban

A useful beginner order is noun + adjective: una casa pequeña — a small house. Adjectives can also go before nouns. Mi simpática hermana is grammatical; it presents being friendly as a characteristic of your sister. Mi hermana simpática can distinguish the friendly sister from someone else. For a simple description, mi hermana es simpática is especially clear.

Some forms or meanings change before a noun:

• Un buen amigo / un amigo bueno — a good friend. Bueno shortens to buen before a masculine singular noun; una buena amiga keeps buena.
• Un mal día / una mala idea — a bad day / a bad idea. The feminine form does not shorten to mal here.
• Una familia grande — a large family. Una gran familia can express admiration: a great family.

Connect descriptions with y (and), or contrast ideas with pero (but):

• Es alta y fuerte. — She is tall and strong.
• Es pequeña pero fuerte. — She is small but strong.

Before the vowel sound /i/, y normally becomes e: alto e inteligente, padres e hijos. This follows the sound, not just the written letter. Agua y hielo keeps y, because hielo starts with a glide rather than that /i/ vowel. See the RAE explanation of the conjunction.

Try it: Complete Mi hermana es alta ___ inteligente.

Check: E, because inteligente begins with the /i/ vowel sound. In alta y fuerte, keep y.

Choose descriptions with care

You may meet viejo/vieja (old), feo/fea (ugly), gordo/gorda (fat), and delgado/delgada (thin/slim). These are useful words to understand, but unsolicited comments about appearance can hurt. For an older person, mayor is often a more courteous choice than viejo. Affectionate uses depend on the relationship; do not assume a stranger will welcome them.

Hermano mayor means older brother; hermana menor means younger sister. These compare ages. Alto/bajo describe height, while grande/pequeño describe size more generally.

Introduce the people you mean

Esta means “this” here; es supplies “is.” To give a name, use se llama: Mi madre se llama Ana — my mother's name is Ana.

A photo conversation

Leo: ¿Tienes hermanos? — Do you have siblings?

Ana: Sí, tengo un hermano y una hermana. — Yes, I have a brother and a sister.

Leo: ¿Cómo es tu hermano? — What is your brother like?

Ana: Se llama David. Es alto e inteligente. — His name is David. He is tall and intelligent.

Leo: ¿Y tu hermana? — And your sister?

Ana: Esta es Isabel. Es simpática y muy divertida. — This is Isabel. She is friendly and very amusing.

Your turn: Introduce a fictional cousin. Give a name and two characteristics. Then change the person from primo to prima and check which words need to change.

Like an activity, enjoy something, or like a person

English “like” covers several ideas. Learn the Spanish patterns with examples rather than applying one translation everywhere.

Me gusta: the thing or activity sets the verb form

Think “the thing is pleasing to me.” Me identifies the person experiencing the feeling; gusta/gustan agrees with what is liked. Te means “to you” in this familiar pattern: ¿Te gusta el café? — do you like coffee?

Grammatical number matters more than how many people or objects something refers to. La gente means “people” but is grammatically singular: me gusta la gente amable. Las personas is plural: me gustan las personas amables. Both say you like kind people.

Me encanta leer means “I love reading”; me encantan los libros means “I love books.” The singular/plural pattern is the same, with stronger enthusiasm. Leer means “to read.”

With people, make your intention clear

Me gusta Ana can suggest attraction to Ana. It is not a reliable default for every English sentence meaning “I like this person.” To say you find someone pleasant, learn caer bien:

• Mi hermana me cae bien. — I like my sister / find her pleasant.
• Mis primos me caen bien. — I like my cousins.
• ¿Te cae bien tu profesor? — Do you like your teacher as a person?

To express family affection directly, quiero a mi familia means “I love my family.” Here querer expresses affection for people; it is not the same use as quiero un café from Lesson 2. Quiero mucho a mis abuelos means “I love my grandparents very much.”

Me encantan tus abuelos can naturally express enthusiastic appreciation: “Your grandparents are wonderful / I really like them.” It does not have to mean romantic attraction. Interpret these expressions in context.

The RAE entry for gustar explains its agreement structure; the dictionary entry for caer includes the expression caer bien.

Read, notice, then speak

Esta es mi familia. Mi hermano mayor se llama David y tiene treinta años. Es alto e inteligente. Mi hermana menor se llama Isabel. Es joven y divertida. Mis padres son amables y trabajan mucho. Quiero mucho a mi familia. Me gusta leer con mi hermana.

Meaning: This is my family. My older brother is called David and is thirty. He is tall and intelligent. My younger sister is called Isabel. She is young and amusing. My parents are kind and work a lot. I love my family very much. I like reading with my sister.

Trabajan mucho means “they work a lot.” Compare the verb with the adjective trabajadores/trabajadoras — hard-working.

Check your understanding:

1. Which word tells you David is older?
2. Why does the text use e inteligente?
3. Does me gusta leer take gusta because the speaker is one person?

Answers: Mayor; because inteligente starts with /i/; no — the infinitive activity leer determines the singular form.

Now introduce two people in four sentences. Include mi/mis, a name, a description, and something you enjoy doing together. Check the adjective endings, then say it again without looking. Your goal is a description someone can understand, with the forms supporting your meaning.

Families, surnames, and greeting customs differ across Spanish-speaking communities. Learn about the people you meet without assuming a fixed household structure or a universal greeting ritual.

In Lesson 4, you will use descriptions and preferences when talking about food and ordering in restaurants.