Inklingo
Get the App
← Dictionary

familia

/fa-MEE-lee-ah/

family

A happy family consisting of a mother, a father, and one child sitting together on a green park bench, smiling warmly.

The most common meaning of *familia* is your immediate family or household.

familia(Noun)

fA1
family?parents, children, siblings, etc.
Also:household?people living together

📝 In Action

Mi familia vive en Argentina.

A1

My family lives in Argentina.

Tengo una familia muy grande.

A1

I have a very big family.

La familia es lo más importante para mí.

A2

Family is the most important thing to me.

Word Connections

Synonyms

  • parientes (relatives)
  • hogar (home/household)

Common Collocations

  • reunión de familia – family reunion
  • miembro de la familia – family member
  • árbol de familia – family tree
  • padre/madre de familia – head of the household

Idioms & Expressions

  • en familia – In a private, intimate setting, just among family or close friends.
  • quedar en familia – To stay within the family (e.g., a secret or a business).

💡 Grammar Points

Always Feminine

Even though a family includes men and women, the word 'familia' is always feminine. This means you always say 'la familia' (the family) or 'una familia' (a family).

❌ Common Pitfalls

Confusing 'Familia' and 'Parientes'

Mistake: "Todos mis parientes viven en mi casa."

Correction: Mi familia vive en mi casa. 'Familia' is better for your immediate household. 'Parientes' means all your relatives, including distant cousins you might not live with.

⭐ Usage Tips

A Broad and Important Concept

In many Spanish-speaking cultures, 'familia' often includes extended family (grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins) more centrally than 'family' might in English. It represents a very strong unit of support.

A majestic lion standing side-by-side with a majestic tiger in a jungle clearing, representing a shared scientific classification.

In formal contexts, *familia* can refer to a scientific classification or group, such as the family shared by lions and tigers.

familia(Noun)

fB2
family?a scientific or logical group (e.g., of animals, languages)
Also:group?a set of related things,class?a category or classification

📝 In Action

El español pertenece a la familia de las lenguas romances.

B2

Spanish belongs to the family of Romance languages.

Los leones y los tigres son de la misma familia.

B1

Lions and tigers are from the same family.

Este software viene con una nueva familia de tipografías.

C1

This software comes with a new family of fonts.

Word Connections

Synonyms

  • grupo (group)
  • clase (class)
  • género (genus/type)

Common Collocations

  • familia de palabras – word family
  • familia de productos – product family/line

⭐ Usage Tips

Look for 'de'

This meaning is almost always followed by 'de' to specify the group. When you see 'familia de...', listen to what comes next to know if it's about people or a classification.

✏️ Quick Practice

💡 Quick Quiz: familia

Question 1 of 1

Which sentence uses 'familia' in a more figurative or scientific way?

📚 More Resources

Word Family

familiar(familiar; relative) - adjective/noun
familiaridad(familiarity) - noun
familiarizar(to familiarize) - verb

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is 'familia' feminine ('la familia') if it includes men?

In Spanish, the gender of a noun is a grammatical rule and doesn't always match the real-world gender of the thing it describes. The word 'familia' is grammatically feminine, so it always uses feminine words like 'la' and 'una', even when talking about a family of all men.

What's the difference between 'familia' and 'parientes'?

'Familia' usually refers to your closer family, the people you feel a strong bond with, often living in the same house. 'Parientes' is a broader term for all your relatives, including distant cousins or great-aunts you might not know very well.