Los padres y los hermanos
Hi people!
When talking about a group of people even if all if them are females but one is a male, I have to use the -o adjective, e.g 4 sisters and a brother = 5 hermanos, right? It could also mean 5 brothers, so how to tell whether the speaker means siblings or brothers?
The same goes for 'Los padres", parents or fathers??
Thanks
4 Answers
Correct!
You will be able to tell by the context!
abuelos - grandparents... or could be grandfathers
How about tíos? Uncles? Also could be "aunt and uncle".
Hijos - children. Could be all boys. Could be 80 girls and 1 boy. 
When someone wants to specify they will break the group down into two, "Tengo dos hermanos y tres hermanas." Otherwise it's understood that the only information they want to give is the number of siblings they have without indicating gender. If someone wants to indicate that they are referring not to a mother and father when they say "padres" but rather to their gay fathers or to a father and a step-father they have to speak more at length, otherwise it's assumed "my parents" means "my mom and dad". Note that this presents a similar problem in English. When I say "my parents" I can actually be thinking of my father, mother, stepmother, and stepfather, but the casual bystander will likely assume I'm speaking only of a mother and father.
In English, if I say that I have five children, how do you know what their sexes are? You don't. Obviously! If it matters, you ask for specifics.
Yes you would use the "os" ending - hermanos. And yes for "los padres" you wouldn't know if it was the parents, the fathers, or the priests. You would have to specify, like say, in parentheses.
