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Mi cuñado es el hermano de mi mujer.

Mi cuñado es el hermano de mi mujer.
My brother-in-law is my wife's brother.
From Lesson 88:Family and partners (el suegro, casarse)·Spanish (Spain)

Questions & Answers about Mi cuñado es el hermano de mi mujer.

Why is it el hermano de mi mujer instead of using an apostrophe 's' like in English?
Spanish doesn't use an apostrophe 's' for possession. Instead, you have to use the structure 'the [person] of [person]'. So, 'my wife's brother' translates directly to el hermano de mi mujer.
Doesn't the word mujer usually mean 'woman'?
Yes, mujer means 'woman', but in Spain it is also the most common everyday way to say 'wife'. While you might also hear esposa for wife, saying mi mujer is completely standard and natural.
Why do we use es here instead of está?
We use es, which comes from the verb ser, because we are talking about identity and family relationships. When you describe who someone is in relation to you, you always use ser.
If cuñado is brother-in-law, how would I say sister-in-law?
You simply change the masculine -o ending to a feminine -a. Sister-in-law is cuñada. This is a very common pattern for family words in Spanish, just like hermano and hermana.

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