2.19 Refer to family members

Vocab test

  1. Mi hija – My daughter
  2. Mi hermano mayor – My older brother
  3. Mi abuelo – My grandad
  4. Tus padres – Your parents
  5. Sus nietos – His/ her/ your grandchildren
  6. Tu sobrino – Your nephew
  7. Mi hermanastra – My stepsister
  8. Nuestra familia – Our family
  9. Somos simpáticos – We are nice
  10. Vivimos en España – We live in Spain

Verb of the day

Conjugate the verb VER (to see) in the present tense.

YoNosotros
Vosotros
Él/ Ella/ UstedEllos/ Ellas/ Ustedes

Questions to answer

Translation tool

1. ¿A tu hija le gusta mirar películas?

2. ¿A tu marido le gusta escuchar música clásica?

3. ¿Por qué tocas la guitarra?

4. ¿A Ronaldo le gusta el baloncesto?

5. ¿Tu hermana quiere tocar el piano?

6. ¿A tu amigo le gusta la música de Madonna?

7. ¿Qué deporte te gusta?

8. ¿Tus amigas son simpáticas?

A simple dialogue

Use the Spanish phrases to translate the English dialogue.  Write it out and perform it.

  • Do you see your family much?
  • I live with my mum, her husband and my stepbrother, so I see them every day.
  • Do you see your father much?
  • I only see Dad at the weekends, because he works quite far away.
  • What do you do when you see him?
  • He likes to play Monopoly with me, and we like the same type of music … rock!
  • What do you do when you visit your grandparents?
  • My gran loves eating in cafés and restaurants, and my other gran loves cooking.
  • Are your grandmothers nice?
  • All the people in my family are nice!

Use these phrases to translate the dialogue.

¡Todas las personas de mi familia son simpáticas!

¿Qué haces cuando lo ves?

¿Qué haces cuando visitas a tus abuelos?

¿Tus abuelas son simpáticas?

¿Ves mucho a tu familia?

¿Ves mucho a tu padre?

A él le gusta jugar Monopoly conmigo, y nos gusta el mismo tipo de música… ¡rock!

A mi abuela le encanta comer en cafés y restaurantes, y a mi otra abuela le encanta cocinar.

A papá solo lo veo los fines de semana porque trabaja bastante lejos.

Vivo con mi madre, su marido y mi hermanastro, así que los veo todos los días.

Choose from a range of voices to read your dialogue here.

Grammar notes

* Read this information, then use it to quiz a friend.

SAYING WHAT PEOPLE LIKE

Verbs like gustar and encantar are different from typical Spanish verbs.  They don’t directly follow the usual subject-verb-object pattern. Instead, they work like “something is pleasing to someone” or “something is enchanting to someone”.

THE STRUCTURE

You know the subject pronouns.  Compare them with the indirect object pronouns in the table below.  Subject pronouns are not used with verbs like gustar and encantar.

Subject pronounsIndirect object pronounsExamples
YoMeMe gusta el chocolate = I like chocolate
Te¿Te gusta el café? = Do you like coffee?
Él Ella UstedLe Le LeLe gusta jugar = He likes to play Le gusta pintar = She likes to paint ¿Le gusta el té? = Do you like tea?
NosotrosNosNos gusta cantar = We like to sing
VosotrosOs¿Os gusta viajar? = Do you like to travel?
Ellos Ellas UstedesLes Les LesLes gusta el cine = They like the movies Les gusta la pizza = They like pizza ¿Les gusta la idea? = Do you like the idea?

CLARIFYING THE SUBJECT

When you’re talking about third-person (he, she, they), you often need to use a + person for clarification. 

  • A mi padre le gusta ir a la playa = My dad likes going to the beach
  • A mis abuelos les gusta ver la televisión = My grandparents like watching the TV

Gustar and encantar are only conjugated in third-person singular or third-person plural, depending on whether what is liked (the subject) is singular or plural.  More on that later!

Suggested grammar lesson.

Journal prompts

Write short sentences.  Keep them as simple as you can.

Use a translation tool to put them into Spanish.

Write them out, then check them with your teacher.  Present them to a friend, teaching your friend any new Spanish, and making sure they learn it!

Do you have:
A younger brother or sister?
An older brother or sister?
Cousins?
Pets?
Who is in your family?
What do they like to do?
Tienes:
¿Un hermano o hermana menor?
¿Un hermano o hermana mayor?
¿Primos?
¿Mascotas?
¿Quién está en tu familia?
¿Qué les gusta hacer?

Next lesson: 2.20 Shop for clothes

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