Introduction
Asking about family status is a common part of everyday conversation. For English-speaking Spanish learners, the question Is your son married? is an excellent opportunity to practice vocabulary, possessive structures, and verbs. This article explains how to form this question with the word hijo, offers natural variations, explains grammar and pronunciation, and gives real-life examples and usage notes.
- Basic translation and literal structure
- Polite and familiar forms
- Alternative verbs and constructions
- Gender and adjective agreement
- Possessives and placement
- Natural conversational variations
- Short dialogues with context
- Pronunciation and stress tips
- Politeness and cultural considerations
- Related vocabulary to expand the conversation
- Common mistakes and how to avoid them
- Practice phrases to internalize the forms
- Regional differences and usage notes
- Conclusion
Basic translation and literal structure
The most direct translation of Is your son married? is ¿Está casado tu hijo? This sentence uses the verb estar and the adjective casado to indicate marital status. In Spanish, asking about whether someone is married can use estar or ser, but for marital status, estar plus casado is common in many varieties, while ser is also heard in some regions.
Literal components:
¿Está – Is he/it/are you (formal) being?
casado – married (masculine form)
tu – your (familiar singular)
hijo – son
Polite and familiar forms
Spanish has different ways to address someone depending on formality. Choose the right possessive and verb form based on your relationship to the listener.
Familiar (tú)
Use when speaking to friends, family, or people your age in informal contexts.
¿Está casado tu hijo?
Formal (usted)
Use when speaking to strangers, elders, or in respectful contexts. Swap tu for su and keep the verb form the same.
¿Está casado su hijo?
Plural (vosotros and ustedes)
When asking a group, use plural possessives. In Latin America, ustedes is the plural form; in Spain, vosotros (informal) vs. ustedes (formal).
¿Está casado vuestro hijo? (Spain, informal plural)
¿Está casado su hijo? (Latin America or formal plural)
Alternative verbs and constructions
Spanish offers several natural ways to ask the same idea. Using different verbs or structures can change the tone slightly or sound more natural in certain regions.
Using ser vs estar
Some speakers prefer ¿Es casado tu hijo? This uses ser. While understandable, it is less common than ¿Está casado tu hijo? in many dialects. Use estar for states or conditions, including marital status in many contexts.
Using tener + participle
A more colloquial option in some regions is ¿Tiene tu hijo esposa? This translates to Does your son have a wife? It uses tener plus a noun and is a natural alternative when asking about whether someone is married and has a spouse.
Using estar + con
Some speakers ask ¿Está tu hijo casado o con pareja? to clarify whether the son is married or simply in a relationship. This is useful if you want to be more inclusive of domestic partnerships.
Gender and adjective agreement
The adjective casado must agree in gender with the person it describes. Because the subject is masculine, use casado. If you ask about a daughter, use casada.
Examples:
¿Está casado tu hijo? – Is your son married?
¿Está casada tu hija? – Is your daughter married?
Possessives and placement
Spanish possessive adjectives come before the noun: mi, tu, su, nuestro, vuestro. You can also emphasize ownership with the construction el hijo de usted/de él/de ella. This is handy for clarity or politeness.
Examples:
¿Está casado su hijo? – Is your son married? (formal)
¿Está casado el hijo de usted? – Is your son married? (very formal or clarifying)
Natural conversational variations
Here are common, natural ways native speakers might ask about a son’s marital status, from formal to casual.
Formal: ¿Está casado su hijo?
Neutral: ¿Tu hijo está casado?
Casual: ¿Tu hijo ya se casó? – Has your son already gotten married?
Colloquial: ¿Tu hijo tiene esposa? – Does your son have a wife?
Notes on word order
Spanish allows flexible word order. Tu hijo está casado? is slightly more conversational than ¿Está casado tu hijo? The question mark signals it is a question when spoken with rising intonation.
Short dialogues with context
Short dialogues help show how these questions appear in real life. Below are examples for different settings.
At a family gathering
A: ¿Tu hijo está casado?
B: Sí, se casó el año pasado. (Yes, he got married last year.)
At work, formal
A: Disculpe, ¿está casado su hijo?
B: Sí, vive con su esposa en la ciudad. (Yes, he lives with his wife in the city.)
Casual conversation
A: ¿Tu hijo ya se casó?
B: No, todavía no. Tiene novia, pero no están comprometidos. (No, not yet. He has a girlfriend, but they are not engaged.)
Pronunciation and stress tips
Key pronunciation notes to sound natural:
hijo – Pronounced EE-ho; h is silent, g sound is not present, the j is pronounced like the English h but stronger in many regions.
casado – kah-SAH-doh; stress on the second syllable.
tu – too (informal your)
su – soo (formal your/their)
Intonation in questions
Yes/no questions like ¿Está casado tu hijo? use rising intonation at the end when spoken. In writing remember the inverted question mark at the start and regular one at the end.
Politeness and cultural considerations
Asking about marital status can be sensitive in some cultures. Use context and tone to avoid making the listener uncomfortable. In formal or new relationships, prefacing with Disculpe or Perdón can soften the question.
Polite examples:
Disculpe, ¿está casado su hijo? – Excuse me, is your son married?
Perdón, ¿puedo preguntar si su hijo está casado? – Sorry, may I ask if your son is married?
Related vocabulary to expand the conversation
Knowing related terms helps you continue the conversation naturally.
la esposa – the wife
el esposo – the husband
casarse – to get married
comprometido/comprometida – engaged
pareja – partner
divorciado/divorciada – divorced
Use them in sentences:
Se casó con su esposa en junio.
Está comprometido desde hace seis meses.
Su hijo tiene pareja desde hace un año.
Common mistakes and how to avoid them
Beginner learners often mix up possessives, gender agreement, or verb choices. Watch out for these errors:
Mixing possessives: Using su when you mean tú can change the level of formality.
Wrong gender: Say casada when asking about a son, which is incorrect. Use casado for a male.
Verb confusion: Using tener when you want to say is married. Tener can work in some contexts but use estar casado for clarity.
Practice phrases to internalize the forms
Short sentences you can repeat to build confidence:
¿Está casado mi hijo? – Is my son married?
Tu hijo está casado o no? – Is your son married or not?
¿Con quién está casado tu hijo? – Whom is your son married to?
Su hijo está casado desde hace cuánto tiempo? – How long has your son been married?
Regional differences and usage notes
Spanish varies across regions. In some Latin American countries, people more often say ¿Tu hijo se casó? to ask if the son got married (focusing on the event), while in Spain you might hear ¿Está casado tu hijo? more frequently. Both are correct, so listening to local speakers will help you choose the most natural phrasing for your setting.
Conclusion
Asking Is your son married? in Spanish is simple once you know the key word hijo, the correct possessive, and the verb form. Use ¿Está casado tu hijo? for a direct translation, switch to ¿Está casado su hijo? for formality, and try variations like ¿Tu hijo ya se casó? for casual speech. Pay attention to gender agreement, regional preferences, and polite phrasing to communicate naturally and respectfully.
