In this Learning Note, we’ll present a lot of Portuguese vocabulary related to different family members and loved ones. Then you can practice using these new words in the Lessons that follow.
You may wish to add some of these words to your Smart Review, depending on which members of a famíliathe family you like to talk about most. 😉
- o paifather | a mãemother
- o filhoson | a filhadaughter
- o irmãobrother | a irmãsister
- o primomale cousin | a primafemale cousin
- o tiouncle | a tiaaunt
- o avôgrandfather | a avógrandmother
- o tio-avôgreat-uncle | a tia-avógreat-aunt
- o bisavôgreat-grandfather | a bisávogreat-grandmother
- o netograndson | a netagranddaughter
- o bisnetogreat-grandson | a bisnetagreat-granddaughter
- o sobrinhonephew | a sobrinhaniece
- o maridohusband or o esposohusband, male spouse | a mulherwife, woman or a esposawife, female spouse
- o ex-maridoex-husband | a ex-mulherex-wife
- o sogrofather-in-law | a sogramother-in-law
- o genroson-in-law | a noradaughter-in-law
- o cunhadobrother-in-law | a cunhadasister-in-law
- o noivofiancé, groom a noivafiancée, bride
- o namoradoboyfriend | a namoradagirlfriend
- o parceiropartner (masc.) | a parceirapartner (fem.)
- o companheirocompanion, partner (masc.) | a companheiracompanion, partner (fem.)
Notes About Gender
When it comes to talking about family members in Portuguese, you have to consider grammatical gender. As you may be used to by now, the plural, masculine form of each word is generally used when referring to a group, whether that group is composed of males or both males and females. For example, tios could refer to just uncles, or it could refer to aunts and uncles collectively. Filhos could refer to just sons, or to children (both sons and daughters). Irmãos could refer to brothers, or siblings. And so on…
There’s a notable exception: You have to use the feminine, plural word (avós) to talk about grandparents.
os avósgrandparents
Notice how the definite article here is os, not as. That’s how you know we’re referring to grandparents and not just grandmothers. To talk about just grandmothers, you would say:
as avósgrandmothers
Don’t forget what you learned in the unit about Possessives! When you want to say “my (family member)” you have to pay attention to the gender and number of people you’re referring to. For example:
o meu paimy father
a minha mãemy mother
os meus netosmy grandchildren, my grandsons
as minhas netasmy granddaughters
As gender is such a prominent part of the language, it can be complicated to know how to refer to a non-binary person, or what to say when you’d prefer not to specify your own or someone else’s gender. Some have proposed the use of gender-neutral language sets, such as the pronoun elu (instead of ele/ela), and word endings like namorade (instead of namorado/namorada), but these are not widely accepted.
Don’t Make These Mistakes!
Take note that the word for parents is: os paisparents and not the more general os parentesrelatives, family members . Also, make sure not to confuse os pais with o paíscountry (that accent mark makes a difference!) 😉
We’ll give you an opportunity to practice some Portuguese family member vocabulary in the following Lessons (Family 1 unit), and then you’ll get more practice later in the Family 2 unit. (As always, feel free to jump ahead if this is a topic that interests you.)
I can’t pronounce nor hear the difference in the words avô and avó.
I invite you to look over this Learning Note on the pronunciation of European Portuguese vowels: https://www.practiceportuguese.com/learning-notes/pronunciation-guide-for-european-portuguese-vowels/
This might give you a better understanding on the differences between “avó” (open O) and avô (medium O). 🙂
You use the article with possesive. Os meus netos.
But in the lesson you stress eles são meus filhos « and not. Eles são os meus filhos
Both options are correct. You can say “Eles são os meus filhos” or just “Eles são meus filhos”. The only possible difference is in where the focus lies.
When you add the definite article ‘os’, you put more emphasis on the fact that those particular children are yours, as opposed to other children that are not related to you. When you just say “Eles são meus filhos”, you’re simply describing the possessive relationship between you and your children, without opposing your children to others, so to speak. If in doubt, always add the articles and you probably won’t be wrong, because it’s not often that you can do away with articles in European Portuguese.
Great
Coming from a patchwork family, I have a couple of half siblings as well as stepdad & stepmom… How do portuguese poeple name these relations?
In Portuguese, half-siblings (and step-siblings) are referred to as “meio-irmão” for a half-brother and “meia-irmã” for a half-sister. A stepdad is called “padrasto” and a stepmom is “madrasta”.
These terms will show up in the Family 2 unit! 🙂
Just a quick note re to “great-grandmother” in the list above: I think the accent on the Portuguese word should be on the o instead of the a.
Great online course for European Portuguese, many thanks to the whole team for all you do!
Thanks for catching that! Fixed 🙂 And thank you very much for your kind words.
I had just made a note to myself to learn if there was a pronoun for a non-binary person. Thanks for having some information about that in this learning note!