"Son" in Spanish

Quick Answer

Son in Spanish is hijo. Read on to learn more about how to say son in Spanish and how we say son in Spanish in the context of other words and phrases!

fatherandson

Son in Spanish: The Basics

While other English words have multiple translations, son in Spanish is quite easy to remember. You just have one word to memorize, and that’s hijo. Son in Spanish is hijo if you’re referring to a person’s child or using the word son to address someone. For example:

examples
El hijo de Iñigo es el chico más amable que conozco. Me saluda todas las mañanas. Iñigo’s son is the nicest guy I know. He says hello to me every morning.
Ay, hijo, los precios de los coches solo van a seguir subiendo. No te quejes tanto. Oh, son, car prices are just going to keep rising. Don’t complain so much.

Remember that Spanish uses the masculine plural when we are talking about a group of people with even just one male in it. For example, if Sergio has two daughters and one son, he’d say he has tres hijos(three children).

Have you ever heard or seen the word mijo? It’s an affectionate way to refer to a male child, and it could be loosely translated as dear or darling. It’s the result of combining the words mi(my) and hijo (son).

Son in Spanish: Other Sons in the Family

We now know that son is hijo. But how do we talk about other sons in the family?

Spanish	English
el bisnieto, el biznieto	great-grandson
el hijastro	stepson
el hijo adoptivo	adopted son
el hijo biológico	biological son
el hijo de acogida	foster son
el hijo único	only son
el nieto	grandson
el yerno, el hijo politico	son-in-law

For example:

examples
Sergio tiene tres hijastros porque su marido había tenido hijos antes de conocerlo. Sergio has three stepsons because his husband had had children before meeting him.
Mi hijo biológico tiene siete años. Mi hijo de acogida tiene nueve. My biological son is seven years old. My foster son is nine.
El yerno de Samanta es el hombre alto que está al lado del coche rojo. ¿Lo ves? Samanta’s son-in-law is the tall man next to the red car. Can you see him?

Remember that Spanish doesn’t use the apostrophe + s to indicate possession like English does. Instead, Spanish uses the construction object + de+ owner. This would be translated literally as object of owner. For example:

examples
el hijo de Lola Lola’s son
el bisnieto de Vicenta Vicenta’s great-grandson
los hijastros de Rodrigo Rodrigo’s stepsons

examples

el hijo de Lola

Lola’s son

el bisnieto de Vicenta

Vicenta’s great-grandson

los hijastros de Rodrigo

Rodrigo’s stepsons

Son in Spanish: Common Phrases

We also use son in several different phrases in English. How do we say son in Spanish in these contexts? Take a look at these phrases:

Spanish	English
el hijo favorito	favorite son
el hijo pródigo	prodigal son
el primogénito	firstborn son

There are also two typical proverbs in English that employ the word son. As you can imagine, proverbs vary quite a bit from one language to another. Check out how we say these proverbs in Spanish! Note that the English proverb Like father, like son. has at least three different possible translations.

examples
De casta le viene al galgo. Like father, like son.
De tal palo, tal astilla. Like father, like son. / A chip off the old block.
Hijo de gato caza ratón. Like father, like son.
En casa de herrero, cuchillo de palo. The shoemaker’s son always goes barefoot.