Son los padres de Chase.
They're Chase's parents.
At a parent-teacher meeting the teacher shakes hands with a couple, and padres refers to the mother and the father together.
From Malas enseñanzas · Spanish audio
Spanish vocabularyA1 · Beginner
How to say "parents" in Spanish
los padres
nounmasculine pluralsingular: el padre (father)
"Parents" in Spanish is los padres, the plural of padre, father. Your mom and dad together are mis padres, and in Latin America many people also say mis papás. Don't let los parientes fool you: it looks like parents, but it means relatives.
Hear "padres" in real movie scenes
Meeting a couple and asking about family. Each video starts and stops on that line.
¿Padres, hermanos?
Parents? Siblings?
On a terrace at a wedding he asks about her family, and padres and hermanos are the two words that come up first when people get to know each other.
Padres, papás, parientes: which is which?
Three words that English speakers mix up, plus two from the same family.
| Spanish | English | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| los padres | parents | Mother and father together. Depending on context it can also mean fathers. |
| mis papás | my parents | Warmer and more casual. You'll hear it all over Latin America. |
| los parientes | relatives | A false friend. It means the wider family: aunts, uncles, cousins, in-laws. |
| el padre | father | Also the word for a Catholic priest: el padre Juan. |
| los abuelos | grandparents | Built the same way as padres, from the word for grandfather. |
Tip: To talk about one parent without saying which, use uno de mis padres, one of my parents.
Grammar: el padre, los padres
Four points about a plural that covers two people.
A mother and a father, one word
los padres is masculine plural, and it still includes the mother. The article stays los.Whose parents
Put de before the person: los padres de Ana. With a possessive: mis padres, tus padres, sus padres.The verb is plural
Two people, so the verb ends in -n: Mis padres viven en México. Tus padres son geniales.The soft d
After a vowel, the d is soft, close to the th in mother: PAH-drehs.Example sentences
Sentences from the Wordy Spanish course. Tap to listen.
Los padres de Ana viven en México.
Ana's parents live in Mexico.
Y tus padres son geniales.
And your parents are great.
¡Qué bonito! ¿Y tus padres?
How lovely! And your parents?
Son los padres de Ana.
They're Ana's parents.
Common mistakes
Mistakes learners make with this word, and how to fix them.
✗mis parientes (meaning mom and dad)
✓mis padres
Parientes are relatives in general. For your mother and father, the word is padres.
✗Mis padres vive en México
✓Mis padres viven en México
Padres is plural, so the verb needs the plural ending -n.
✗Ana's padres
✓los padres de Ana
Possession in Spanish goes through de, with the parents named first and Ana after.
Practice: 3 quick exercises
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1 of 3 · Watch and choose
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How to remember it
Padres sounds like pa plus dress. Picture your pa and ma in their best clothes for a family photo labeled mis padres.
Questions about "parents" in Spanish
How do you say parents in Spanish?
Los padres. Mis padres means my parents, and in Latin America mis papás is just as common.
Does parientes mean parents in Spanish?
No. Los parientes are your relatives: aunts, uncles, cousins and the rest of the extended family. Your parents are los padres.
Why is padres masculine if it includes the mother?
When a group mixes men and women, Spanish grammar uses the masculine plural. That's why a mom and a dad are los padres, never las padres.
How do you say "my parents" in Spanish?
Mis padres, with mis because padres is plural: Mis padres viven en México.
