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El padre del esposo es viejo.

El padre del esposo es viejo.
The husband's father is old.
From Lesson 17:Possession (de)·Spanish (Latin America)

Questions & Answers about El padre del esposo es viejo.

Why is it El padre del esposo instead of using an apostrophe-s like in English?
In Spanish, there is no apostrophe-s ('s) to show possession. Instead, you always use the formula 'The [thing] of the [owner].' So, 'the husband's father' becomes El padre de... (The father of...).
Where does the word del come from?
del is a mandatory combination of the words de (of) and el (the). Whenever de is followed directly by the masculine word for 'the' (el), they merge into one word. So, de + el esposo becomes del esposo.
Why do we use es here instead of está? Doesn't age change?
Even though people grow older, physical descriptions and age-related words like being old (viejo) or young (joven) are seen as fundamental characteristics of a person in Spanish. For these core traits, you always use the verb ser (es).
Does viejo describe the father or the husband?
It describes the father (el padre), because he is the main subject of the sentence. The phrase del esposo just gives us more information about which father we are talking about. If the subject were female, like the mother (la madre), the adjective would change to match her: La madre del esposo es vieja.

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