CHAPTER 3
People—La gente

Consejo
IMPORTANT TIP

Did you notice that for every one of these family members, the Spanish words for boys and girls are the same except that the boy word ends in o and the girl word ends in a? When you look at it like that, it’s like there are only half as many words to remember. If you know that a boy cousin is el primo, then it’s easy to remember that a girl cousin is la prima.

My Family—Mi familia

Now it’s time to talk about family! Since you live with your family, you probably talk with them often and spend lots of time together. Perhaps your parents help you with your homework after school and take you to the park when the weather is nice. This chapter will teach you all you need to know to talk with your family in Spanish!

Every family is different. Some children live with their mother and father, while others only have one parent or live with a relative. The Spanish word for father is el padre, and the Spanish word for mother is la madre. Or you can call them Papá (dad) and Mamá (mom). Here are the Spanish words for other family members:

English	Spanish
grandfather	el abuelo
grandmother	la abuela
husband	el esposo
wife	la esposa
uncle	el tío
aunt	la tía
brother	el hermano
sister	la hermana
boy cousin	el primo
girl cousin	la prima
nephew	el sobrino
niece	la sobrina
son	el hijo
daughter	la hija
grandson	el nieto
granddaughter	la nieta

Okay, it’s time to practice these new words and see if you can remember what they mean. In the following section you’ll be given a Spanish word for a family member. In the blank space, write the name of that person (or one of those people) in your family. So, for example, if you have a cousin named Michael, your response would look like this:

el primo

Michael

Now try some on your own. If there is no one in your family with one of these titles, then just leave the space blank.

el tío	___________________________________
la abuela	___________________________________
la hermana	___________________________________
el abuelo	___________________________________
la prima	___________________________________
el hermano	___________________________________
la tía	___________________________________

When you’re talking about your family, there are a few other words you need to know. First is the verb tener, which means “to have.” Tengo means “I have” and tienes means “you have.” So you can ask your friend ¿Cuántos hermanos y hermanas tienes? (How many brothers and sisters do you have?) and your friend might answer Tengo dos hermanos y una hermana. Now, answer this question about yourself: ¿Cuántos hermanos y hermanas tienes? Don’t forget to write the numbers in Spanish!

Yo tengo ___________ hermanos y _____________ hermanas.

The other useful words are “my” and “your.” There are two words for each of those in Spanish. If you’re talking about just one family member, you would use mi (my) or tu (your): mi padre, mi madre (my father, my mother), tu padre, tu madre (your father, your mother). If you’re talking about more than one, you’ll use mis (my) or tus (your): mis hermanos, mis primos (my brothers, my cousins), tus hermanos, tus primos (your brothers, your cousins).

Now you can talk to and about your family in Spanish! See what you can remember and go practice your new words with a parent or friend.

Diversión—Fun Stuff

Use all of your new Spanish vocabulary to make a family tree! To do this, start with yourself and branch out. Write your name and the word yo, which means “I” in Spanish. Then draw two lines branching out from you and write your parents’ names plus madre and padre. Keep going until you’ve included aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, and anyone else you can think of! Be sure to show your family tree to your family when you’re finished.

¡CUIDADO!

Mistake to Avoid

The Spanish word for “people” is la gente. If you want to say “one person,” that would be una persona. And remember: The word persona is always feminine, whether that person is a man or a woman. So, for example, tu padre (your father) is una persona, too!

¿Cómo?—
Say What?

You might have lots of friends, but you probably only have one best friend. In Spanish, a best friend is el mejor amigo or la mejor amiga. Here’s a question for you: ¿Cómo se llama tu mejor amigo? (What is your best friend’s name?) Remember from Chapter 2, to answer you can say Mi mejor amigo (or amiga) se llama .... (My best friend’s name is…)

More People—Más gente

Of course, there are lots more people in the world than just the ones in your family. Here are some other Spanish people words you should know:

English	Spanish
baby boy	un niño
baby girl	una niña
boy	un chico
	un muchacho
girl	una chica
	una muchacha
teenage boy	un joven
teenage girl	una joven
man	un hombre
woman	una mujer
boyfriend	un novio
girlfriend	una novia

In English, there are a lot of words for people that are the same whether the person is a boy or a girl. But in Spanish, there are two slightly different words for most people. Here are some common people words in English and their Spanish translations:

English	Spanish (male)	Spanish (female)
neighbor	un vecino	una vecina
teacher	un profesor	una profesora
student	un estudiante	una estudiante
friend	un amigo	una amiga
my best friend	mi mejor amigo	mi mejor amiga
enemy	un enemigo	una enemiga
driver	un conductor	una conductora
passenger	un pasajero	una pasajera

Descriptions and Personality—
Descripciones y personalidad

Now that you know what to call all of the different people you know, you can describe them. To ask “What is he or she like?” you can say ¿Cómo es? or ¿Qué tal es? In English, you might say, “He is tall” or “She is young.” Here are some of these answers in Spanish:

English	Spanish
I am…	Yo soy…
He is...	Él es...
She is…	Ella es…
tall	alto
short	bajo
fat	gordo
thin	delgado
young	joven
old	viejo
good-looking	guapo
ugly	feo

For example, Él es bajo y delgado means “He is short and thin.” But what if you’re describing a girl? In this case, you might need to change the ending of the word from o to a. For example, a tall girl is alta, and a pretty girl is guapa. The only word in this list that this doesn’t work for is joven, which remains the same for a boy or a girl.

Now try describing yourself! For example:

I am young.

Yo soy joven.

Fill in the blanks to complete a sentence describing yourself:

Yo soy _________________ y _________________.

In English, the adjective (the describing word) comes before the noun; but it’s the opposite in Spanish. When you speak Spanish, be sure to say the adjective after the noun.

Gramática —
Additional Grammar

If you’re describing a girl, you would start with Ella es and then change the o at the end of the describing word to a: Ella es alta (she is tall), ella es guapa (she is pretty). If you’re describing yourself, you would say yo soy and then the describing word ending with o if you’re a boy and a if you’re a girl. For example, Yo soy bajo (I’m short, for a boy) or Yo soy guapa (I’m pretty, for a girl).

So, for example, if a person has blue eyes, you would say she has ojos azules (eyes blue). To form a complete sentence, start with él tiene (he has) or ella tiene (she has), then ojos (eyes), then the color. Here are some examples:

English	Spanish
He has blue eyes.	Él tiene ojos azules.
She has green eyes.	Ella tiene ojos verdes.
Juan has gray eyes.	Juan tiene ojos grises.
Ana has brown eyes.	Ana tiene ojos castaños.

When you talk about someone’s hair, it’s just the same: él tiene or ella tiene, plus cabello or pelo (hair), and then the color or other description word. The words pelo and cabello both mean hair, so you can use whichever one you want. Here are some hair descriptions you can use:

English	Spanish
dark hair	cabello/pelo oscuro
black hair	cabello/pelo negro
brown hair	cabello/pelo castaño
red hair	cabello/pelo rojo
blond hair	cabello/pelo rubio
straight hair	cabello/pelo liso
curly hair	cabello/pelo rizado
wavy hair	cabello/pelo ondulado
short hair	cabello/pelo corto
long hair	cabello/pelo largo

What type of hair do you have? Qué tipo de pelo tienes? Fill in your answer here:

Yo tengo pelo

________________________________.

Two other words you might want to describe someone are pecas (freckles) and hoyuelos (dimples). For example:

English	Spanish
He has freckles.	Él tiene pecas.
She has dimples.	Ella tiene hoyuelos.

Now you know how to describe what everyone looks like, but what about their personality? For these descriptions, you’ll use Él es or Ella es, plus the describing word. For the words that end in o, remember to change it to a for girls. If it doesn’t end in o, then it’s the same for boys and girls. Here are some adjectives you might use:

English	Spanish
affectionate	afectuoso
boring	aburrido
brave	valiente
friendly	amistoso
funny	divertido
impatient	impaciente
interesting	interesante
kind	amable
lazy	perezoso
mean	mezquino
nice	simpático
outgoing	abierto
patient	paciente
playful	guasón
serious	serio
shy	tímido
smart	inteligente
snobbish	esnob
strong	fuerte
studious	estudioso
stupid	estúpido
weak	débil

Do you have an affectionate friend (un amigo afectuoso)? An interesting aunt (una tía interesante)? Fill in the following blanks to complete sentences describing yourself and your family members. For yourself, you’re going to use Yo soy again, which means I am. If you need to, refer back to the beginning of the chapter to review the Spanish words for different family members.

Consejo
IMPORTANT TIP

Remember that to ask how another person feels, you can just make a sentence with the tú form of the verb plus the adjective: ¿Estás triste? (Are you sad?) Or you can use a question word: ¿Por qué estás enojado? (Why are you angry?) To practice, try having a short conversation with someone in your family. Start by saying hello and asking how he or she feels in Spanish.

Yo soy _________________ y _________________.

Mi padre es _________________ y _________________.

Mi madre es _________________ y _________________.

Mi hermano es _________________ y _________________.

Mi hermana es _________________ y _________________.

Mi abuelo es _________________ y _________________.

Mi abuela es _________________ y _________________.

Mi tío es _________________ y _________________.

Mi tía es _________________ y _________________.

Mi primo es _________________ y _________________.

Mi prima es _________________ y _________________.

Feelings—Sentimientos

So now you know how to describe what people look like and what kind of personality they have, but what about how they feel? People’s feelings change all the time, so you’ll need to learn some new vocabulary to keep up with them.

For most feelings, you’ll use the verb estar (to be). To say “I am” in Spanish, say yo estoy. To say “you are,” say tú eres. Now, just add one of the following feelings words and you’ve got yourself a sentence!

English	Spanish
angry	enojado
annoyed	enfadado
bored	aburrido
depressed	deprimido
dizzy	mareado
embarrassed	avergonzado
excited	entusiasmado
happy	feliz, alegre
jealous	celoso
nervous	inquieto
offended	ofendido
sad	triste
sick	enfermo
tired	cansado

When you feel bored, you can say Estoy aburrido. When you feel happy, you can say Estoy feliz. These are emotional feelings, which means they describe how your mind feels. For physical feelings (the way your body feels) you can’t use estar; you need a different verb. This verb is tener (to have). In English, you say “I am hungry” or “I am cold,” but in Spanish what you literally have to say is Tengo hambre (I have hunger) and Tengo frío (I have cold.) This may seem a little strange because of the way you are used to using “to have” in English. Don’t worry; it just takes some getting used to.

To create a sentence using tener, start with yo tengo (I am) or tú tienes (you are). Then, add one of the following:

English	Spanish
hungry	hambre
thirsty	sed
hot	calor
cold	frío

To tell someone that you’re hungry, you say, Tengo hambre. To ask someone if he or she is hot, just ask ¿Tienes calor? Easy, right? Remember: Practice makes perfect!

¡CUIDADO!

Mistake to Avoid

Even though you should use estar with most emotional feeling words (like happy or sad) and tener with most physical feeling words (like hot or cold), some words don’t follow these rules. For example, to say “I am scared” (an emotional feeling), you would say Tengo miedo.

Diversión—Fun Stuff

Here’s a great way to practice all the Spanish words for body parts: Draw a big picture of a person and label all of the different parts in Spanish. Don’t forget all the details, like teeth and fingers. Once you’ve learned these body part words, you can label them all!

Consejo
IMPORTANT TIP

Did you notice that you use the same word to say both “finger” and “toe” in Spanish? The word dedo literally translates as “digit,” which is another word you can use for finger and toe in English. If you need to be specific, you can say dedo del pie, so that the person you’re talking to knows you mean your toe and not your finger. Now that you know how to say finger and toe in Spanish, practice the numbers you learned in Chapter 1 and try counting them: Un dedo, dos dedos, tres dedos… How high can you count?

Parts of the Body—Partes del cuerpo

Now it’s time to learn how to talk about parts of your body. From your head to your toes, it’s fun to describe all your parts in Spanish. Here are some good words to know:

English	Spanish
hair	el cabello, el pelo
head	la cabeza
face	la cara
eye	el ojo
nose	la nariz
cheek	la mejilla
mouth	la boca
lip	el labio
tooth	el diente
ear	la oreja

English	Spanish
neck	el cuello
chest	el pecho
back	la espalda
stomach	el estómago
arm	el brazo
shoulder	el hombro
elbow	el codo
wrist	la muñeca
hand	la mano
finger	el dedo
fingernail, toenail	la uña
thumb	el pulgar
leg	la pierna
knee	la rodilla
ankle	el tobillo
foot	el pie
toe	el dedo