Spanish with friends and family

Making plans, inviting, congratulating, talking about your family: Spanish for friendship, relationships and family life.

36 sentences · 3 dialogues · 17 words

Why this field

Many people learn Spanish because of the people in their lives: friends from an exchange, a partner, a family they marry into. What counts there is not perfect grammar but being able to laugh along, ask questions and offer congratulations.

The language among friends is looser and faster than in a textbook. If you know the usual phrases — making plans, cancelling, apologising — you can get into any conversation.

What you will be able to do

Goals by level. Tick what you can already do — the tick stays in this browser only.

A1I can introduce my family and talk about my friends.
A1I can greet someone, ask how they are and say goodbye.
A2I can arrange to meet and postpone or cancel a meeting.
A2I can talk about what I did at the weekend.
B1I can congratulate, thank and apologise.
B1I can express feelings and talk about a relationship.

Core vocabulary

17 words from the word lists, ordered by level. A coloured edge shows what you have already practised.

la familiathe familyA1
los padresthe parentsA1
el hermanothe brotherA1
la hermanathe sisterA1
el abuelothe grandfatherA1
el amigothe friendA1
el vecinothe neighbourA1
el cumpleañosthe birthdayA1
casadomarriedA1
quedarto arrange to meetA2
el fin de semanathe weekendA2
la fiestathe party, the celebrationA2
avisarto let somebody knowA2
cancelarto cancelA2
la parejathe partner, the coupleB1
felicitarto congratulateB1
invitarto inviteB1

Practise as flashcards Card box Mixed round

Typical situations

Short dialogues to read along and repeat. Say one part first, then the other.

Family photos

A friend is showing you photos of her family.

Tim
¿Quién es este chico?Who’s this boy?
Sofía
Es mi hermano pequeño. Tiene quince años.He’s my little brother. He’s fifteen.
Tim
¿Y la señora mayor?And the older lady?
Sofía
Es mi abuela. Vive con mis padres.That’s my grandmother. She lives with my parents.
Tim
¡Qué familia tan simpática!What a lovely family!
Sofía
Gracias. Somos muchos, pero nos llevamos muy bien.Thanks. There are lots of us, but we get on really well.

Making plans

You want to do something with a friend on Saturday.

Laura
¿Qué haces este sábado?What are you doing this Saturday?
Ben
Nada especial. ¿Por qué?Nothing special. Why?
Laura
Hay un concierto en el parque. ¿Te apetece ir?There’s a concert in the park. Do you fancy going?
Ben
¡Claro! ¿A qué hora quedamos?Of course! What time shall we meet?
Laura
A las siete en la puerta del parque.At seven at the park gate.
Ben
Perfecto. Si llego tarde, te escribo.Perfect. If I’m running late, I’ll text you.

An apology

You missed a dinner at a friend’s.

Jonas
Marta, siento mucho no haber venido a tu cena.Marta, I’m really sorry I didn’t come to your dinner.
Marta
No pasa nada, pero te estuvimos esperando un rato.Never mind, but we waited for you for a while.
Jonas
Lo sé. Tuve un problema en el trabajo y no pude avisar.I know. I had a problem at work and couldn’t let you know.
Marta
La próxima vez mándame aunque sea un mensaje.Next time at least send me a message.
Jonas
Tienes razón. ¿Te invito a un café para compensar?You’re right. Can I buy you a coffee to make up for it?
Marta
Vale, acepto. Pero el pastel también lo pagas tú.All right, I accept. But you’re paying for the cake too.

Sentences to say aloud

The label says where a sentence belongs. The speaker next to it reads it aloud.

Esta es mi hermana, Clara.This is my sister, Clara.
A1neutral
Tengo dos hermanos y una hermana.I have two brothers and a sister.
A1neutral
Mis padres viven en Hamburgo.My parents live in Hamburg.
A1neutral
Mi abuela tiene noventa años.My grandmother is ninety.
A1neutral
¿Estás casado?Are you married?
A1casual
¡Hola! ¿Qué tal?Hi! How are you?
A1casual
Muy bien, ¿y tú?Very well, and you?
A1casual
Este es Marc, un amigo de Berlín.This is Marc, a friend from Berlin.
A1neutral
¡Feliz cumpleaños!Happy birthday!
A1neutral
Hasta mañana, un beso.See you tomorrow, love.
A1close friends only Among friends and family a conversation or a message often ends with un beso or besos — literally “a kiss”, “kisses”.
¿Quedamos el sábado para tomar algo?Shall we meet on Saturday for a drink?
A2casual
Mejor a las nueve, que antes no puedo.Better at nine, I can’t make it any earlier.
A2casual
Lo siento, tengo que cancelar lo de mañana.Sorry, I have to cancel tomorrow.
A2neutral
¿Te apetece venir al cine con nosotros?Do you fancy coming to the cinema with us?
A2casual
El fin de semana fuimos a la playa con unos amigos.At the weekend we went to the beach with some friends.
A2neutral
Mi hermano se va a casar en junio.My brother is getting married in June.
A2neutral
De pequeña pasaba los veranos en casa de mis abuelos.As a child I used to spend the summers at my grandparents’.
A2neutral Habits in the past take the imperfect: pasaba.
El sábado es el cumpleaños de mi madre.Saturday is my mother’s birthday.
A2neutral
¿Vienes a mi fiesta el viernes?Are you coming to my party on Friday?
A2casual
Ayer cenamos todos juntos en casa de mis padres.Yesterday we all had dinner together at my parents’.
A2neutral
¿Qué tal te ha ido el examen?How did your exam go?
A2casual
Mi vecino me ha regado las plantas.My neighbour has watered my plants.
A2neutral
Avísame cuando llegues.Let me know when you get there.
B1close friends only
Te llamo luego, ahora estoy liada.I’ll call you later, I’m really busy right now.
B1casual
Muchas gracias por invitarme, lo he pasado genial.Thank you so much for inviting me, I had a great time.
B1neutral
Te echo mucho de menos.I miss you so much.
B1close friends only
Siento mucho no haber podido venir a tu boda.I’m so sorry I couldn’t come to your wedding.
B1neutral
Llevamos tres años juntos y nos va muy bien.We’ve been together for three years and it’s going really well.
B1neutral
Me alegro mucho de que te vaya bien en el trabajo nuevo.I’m really glad your new job is going well.
B1neutral
Ojalá podamos vernos pronto.I hope we can see each other soon.
B1neutral ojalá is always followed by the subjunctive.
¡Enhorabuena por el bebé!Congratulations on the baby!
B1neutral
Discutimos por una tontería, pero ya nos hemos reconciliado.We argued about something silly, but we’ve already made up.
B1neutral
Si me hubieras avisado, te habría ido a buscar a la estación.If you’d told me, I’d have picked you up from the station.
B2neutral
No es que no quiera ir, es que estoy agotada.It’s not that I don’t want to go, it’s that I’m exhausted.
B2neutral
Aunque discutamos a veces, siempre puedo contar con ella.Even though we argue sometimes, I can always count on her.
B2neutral
Me hizo mucha ilusión que te acordaras de mi cumpleaños.It meant a lot to me that you remembered my birthday.
B2neutral

What matters here

With friends and family you use tú, often with your partner’s parents too.
tú
Acquaintances greet each other with two kisses on the cheek; men usually shake hands with each other.
Quedar means “to arrange to meet”:
¿Quedamos a las ocho? Among friends the time is more of a rough guide.
Quedar¿Quedamos a las ocho?
On a birthday you say ¡Feliz cumpleaños!; for a wedding, a baby or a passed exam, ¡Enhorabuena!
¡Feliz cumpleaños!¡Enhorabuena!

Quick quiz

6 questions on the words and sentences of this field. The word questions count in your progress like any other exercise.

Try it yourself

Read the meaning, say the sentence aloud in Spanish, then open it to compare.

This is my sister, Clara.
Esta es mi hermana, Clara.
See you tomorrow, love.
Hasta mañana, un beso.
Are you coming to my party on Friday?
¿Vienes a mi fiesta el viernes?
We’ve been together for three years and it’s going really well.
Llevamos tres años juntos y nos va muy bien.

Keep learning

The grammar behind it

Word lists that go with it

Reading texts

Reading texts on this topic (18)

Practise

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Every sentence on this page was written for EveryLingua. There are no quotations from films, series, books or songs here, and no titles or names of artists — the page shows how people talk in this field, not what somebody once said.