Learn Spanish (Spain): Sus padres son muy simpáticos.

Sus padres son muy simpáticos.

Their parents are very nice.

Breakdown of Sus padres son muy simpáticos.

Questions & Answers about Sus padres son muy simpáticos.

Why is it sus and not su?

In Spanish, possessive words like su (their/his/her) have to match the thing being owned, not the owner. Because padres (parents) is plural, the possessive becomes the plural sus, regardless of how many people the parents belong to.

Wait, doesn't sus also mean his or her? How do we know it means their?

Exactly! Sus can mean his, her, its, your (formal), or their. You usually know which one it is from the context of the conversation. If it is completely unclear, a Spanish speaker might clarify by saying los padres de ellos (the parents of them).

I thought padre meant father. Why does padres mean parents here?

Padre does mean father. However, in Spanish, when you have a mixed group of males and females, you always use the masculine plural form. So a father and a mother together are simply referred to as padres.

Why does simpáticos have an -os at the end?

Adjectives (describing words) must match the noun they describe in both gender and number. Since padres is a masculine plural noun, the base word simpático (nice) takes the masculine plural ending -os.

Why do we use son instead of están for are?