Spanish Proficiency Exercises
Describe your family.
Simplified Example
"Mi familia es muy típica: mis padres y dos hermanos..."
Libia Contreras Julián
México, D.F.
"Bueno, en mi familia somos ocho hermanos..."
Alejandro Aguilera Villasana
México, Monterrey, N.L.
"Mi familia, pues, consta de mi padre..."
Alvaro Gonzalo de Ugarte
Chile, Santiago
"Bien, mi familia está compuesta, bueno, mis padres y dos hermanos..."
Fernando Talavera de la Fuente
Perú, Lima
"Bueno, mi familia está compuesta por mi esposa Rosana..."
Alejandra Zambrano
Ecuador, Quito
"Bueno, mi familia se compone de mi padre, de mi madre..."
acostumbrarse   to be accustomed to
ampliar   to increase
bello (adj)   beautiful
constar de   to consist of
dueño (m/f)   owner
esposo (m/f)   spouse
forma de vivir (f)   way of life
gerente (m)   manager
hacer cargo de   to be in charge of
llevar X años   to be X years older
madrina (f)   godmother
mamá (f)   mom
más pequeño (adj)   youngest
materno (adj)   maternal
mayor (adj)   older
menor (adj)   younger
morir   to die
padre (m)   father
padrino (m)   godfather
paterno (adj)   paternal
soler   to tend to
tecnólogo médico (m/f)   medical technologist
veterinario (m/f)   veterinarian
Marcos y Carlos son de la misma edad. Marcos and Carlos are the same age.
Pepe es mi hermano mayor. Pepe is my older brother
Carla es la mayor de todas mis primas. Carla is the oldest of all of my cousins.
Bruno es el menor de todos mis tíos. Bruno is the youngest of all of my uncles.
Están divorciados desde hace un año. They have been divorced for one year.
Mis padres se casaron cuando eran muy jóvenes. My parents got married when they were very young.
Me llevo muy bien con mis cuñados. I get along well with my brother and sister-in-law.
Nunca hemos tenido ninguna mascota. We've never had a pet.
Relative pronouns

The relative pronouns "que" and "quien" correspond to "that," "who," and "whom." They are used to refer to a noun that has already been mentioned in the sentence. For example, in the sentence, "Hand me the book that is on the floor," the word "that" refers to the book. "Que" can be used to refer to people or things. "Quien" is used to refer only to people, but is mainly used after a preposition. It is more common to use "que" in instances where we would use "who" in English. Using "quien" in such instances is very formal. Although "que" does not change with respect to number, "quien" does. The plural form of "quien" is "quienes." Neither "que" nor "quien" change with respect to gender.

Voy a visitar a mi amiga que vive en Chile. I'm going to visit my friend who lives in Chile.
  No he visto a mi tío que trabaja en Dallas. I haven't seen my uncle who works in Dallas.
  Ayer vieron al muchacho a quien le dieron el libro. Yesterday they saw the boy to whom they gave the book.
  Esas mujeres para quienes organizamos la fiesta nunca vinieron. Those women for whom we organized the party never came.