Talk About Your Ancestors in Spanish

Quick Answer

¡Hola!Learn how to talk about your ancestors in Spanish in this article and the lessons above! Specifically, learn how to do the following in Spanish:

• use vocabulary related to one’s family

• talk about conditional outcomes using the imperfect subjunctive

• discuss typical family activities

Vocabulary

Let's start off with the vocab words in these lessons!

Nouns

Spanish	English
el antepasado, la antepasada	ancestor
la celebración	celebration
la propina	tip, pocket money
el tatarabuelo, la tatarabuela	great-great-grandfather, great-great-grandmother

examples
A veces hablo con mi familia de nuestros antepasados. Sometimes I talk with my family about our ancestors.
¿Siempre había comida en las celebraciones? Was there always food at the celebrations?
No, a menos que me dieran una propina. No, unless they gave me some pocket money.

Verb

In this skill, you learn the following verb!

Spanish	English
tejer	to knit

Tejer

Tejer(to knit) is an -er verb that is regular in the imperfect subjunctive.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	tejiera	I knit
tú	tejieras	you knit	informal singular you
vos	tejieras	you knit	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	tejiera	he, she knit
usted	tejiera	you knit	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	tejiéramos	we knit
vosotros, vosotras	tejierais	you knit	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	tejieran	they knit
ustedes	tejieran	you knit	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

The Imperfect Subjunctive

The imperfect subjunctive (el imperfecto de subjuntivo) follows many of the same rules as the present subjunctive. Introduced with a preterite, imperfect, conditional, or past perfect WEIRDO verb in the independent clause, the imperfect subjunctive often refers to a previous experience, but it can also refer to unlikely events or possibilities.

Finding the Imperfect Subjunctive Stem

The imperfect subjunctive uses the third person plural of the preterite (minus the -ron). The third person preterite form of a verb, whether regular or irregular, becomes the base for the imperfect subjunctive stem.

Imperfect Subjunctive Endings

When conjugating the imperfect subjunctive, you can choose from two different sets of endings. Both are correct, though the first set, whose yo ending is -ra, is more widespread. For this reason, we use the -ra endings in these lessons.

Subject	Subjunctive 1 Endings	Subjunctive 2 Endings
yo	-ra	-se
tú	-ras	-ses
él, ella, usted	-ra	-se
nosotros, nosotras	-ramos	-semos
vosotros, vosotras	-rais	-seis
ellos, ellas, ustedes	-ran	-sen

Imperfect Subjunctive Uses

The imperfect subjunctive can be used to talk about past occurrences, current opinions of past events, doubts and wishes, uncertainty, and conditional outcomes. It can also be used in if clauses and polite requests.

The following phrases indicate conditional outcomes:

Spanish	English
a menos que	unless
en caso de que	in case
siempre y cuando	as long as

Family Matters

You’ll often find that, in Spanish, people use el abuelo(literally, the grandpa), los primos(literally, the cousins), or similar when they’re talking about their family members.

For example:

examples
No, a menos que la abuela lo horneara. No, unless my grandma baked it.
¿Siempre estabas contento con el abuelo? Were you always happy with your grandpa?

examples

No, a menos que la abuela lo horneara.

No, unless my grandma baked it.

¿Siempre estabas contento con el abuelo?

Were you always happy with your grandpa?

Although using the possessive adjective is also correct, don’t be surprised to hear someone talking about the grandma when they’re referring to mi abuela!