el hijo
“el hijo” — child in Spanish. Noun, level A1, topic — people and family. A child as somebody's son or daughter. In the plural los hijos means children in general; a kid regardless of parents is el niño. In a live sentence: “Tienen dos hijos, un niño y una niña” — They have two children, a boy and a girl. You can hear how it sounds right here. One of 134 words in the set “people and family” in the Spanish course.
In short
| Written in Spanish | el hijo |
| Translation | child |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | A1 |
- el hijochild
Why it looks that way
A child as somebody's son or daughter. In the plural los hijos means children in general; a kid regardless of parents is el niño
A word with a story stays in memory longer than one learned as a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
In a live sentence
A single word almost never appears alone in conversation. A sentence shows where it fits and what stands next to it.
- Tienen dos hijos, un niño y una niñaThey have two children, a boy and a girl
Nearby words: people and family
Mum, friend, child, neighbour. The first thing people ask you about, and the first thing you tell about yourself.
- el amigofriendA heavier word than English friend: an acquaintance is un conocido, a colleague un colega
- la familiafamilyA false friend: this is family, not surname — the surname is el apellido. Stress on the i: fah-MEE-lyah
- la madremotherThe neutral word, for documents and for talking about someone else. The affectionate mom is mamá, stress at the end
- el padrefatherThe affectionate one is papá, stress at the end. The accent mark decides everything: papá is dad, papa is a potato and the Pope
- la personapersonAlways feminine, even about a man: una persona alta. People in general are la gente, and the verb with it stays singular
- el hombremanA man, and mankind in the broad sense. In conversation hombre! is just listen! or come on!
- la mujerwomanThe j is a harsh throaty h: moo-HER
- el chicoyoung manA young man, a guy. The bookish one is el joven; Latin America prefers el muchacho. As an adjective chico means small
- la chicayoung womanThe pair of el chico. One word covers girl and young woman; age comes from context, not the word
- el ancianoelderly manThe c before i is a soft th in Spain and an s in Latin America: ahn-SYAH-noh
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “people and family”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “child” in Spanish?
A child as somebody's son or daughter. In the plural los hijos means children in general; a kid regardless of parents is el niño
- How do you say “woman” in Spanish?
Woman and wife in one word: mi mujer — my wife. The plural is las mujeres
- How do you say “mother” in Spanish?
The neutral word, for documents and for talking about someone else. The affectionate mom is mamá, stress at the end
- How do you say “elderly man” in Spanish?
The polite word. El viejo about a person sounds rude, and el mayor is simply the older one
- How do you say “man” in Spanish?
A man, and mankind in the broad sense. In conversation hombre! is just listen! or come on!
How not to forget this word
Reading a word and remembering it are different jobs. A day later, little survives of a single reading — and that is not bad memory, that is how memory works.
- This has been tested on foreign words too. The difference shows up most when you test yourself a few days later rather than straight away.checked many timesKim & Webb, 2022, Language Learning 72(2) · 48 experiments, 3,411 participants, 98 comparisons.
- Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
- An answer you worked out yourself sticks better than one handed to you.checked many timesBertsch et al., 2007, Memory & Cognition 35(2) · 86 studies, 445 comparisons, d = 0.40.
Frequently asked
How do you say “child” in Spanish?
«el hijo». In a live sentence: “Tienen dos hijos, un niño y una niña” — They have two children, a boy and a girl. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Noun, level A1, from the set “people and family”.
Why does this word look the way it does?
A child as somebody's son or daughter. In the plural los hijos means children in general; a kid regardless of parents is el niño. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
Can I hear how it sounds?
Yes, right on this page: click the word and it will play. The sound works on any phone, and nothing needs to be installed.