suegra
/ˈsweɡɾa/feminine
The Spanish word for mother-in-law is suegra.
suegra is the most common and widely understood term for mother-in-law in Spanish.
Meaning: spouse's mother (noun)
How does it change in a sentence?
The word suegra is feminine. To refer to a father-in-law, use the masculine form suegro. If you are referring to multiple mothers-in-law, use the feminine plural suegras. To refer to parents-in-law (both the mother-in-law and father-in-law), use the masculine plural suegros. When talking about her in a sentence, you typically use the definite article la before suegra, whereas English uses 'my' or 'the'.
How do you pronounce it?
/ˈsweɡɾa/
Did you know?
- The Spanish word suegra shares a distant linguistic ancestor with the German word 'Schwieger' and the Russian word 'Svekrovʹ'.
- In many Spanish-speaking cultures, there is a widespread and humorous stereotype regarding the difficult relationship between a woman and her suegra.
- Unlike English, where 'mother-in-law' is a compound noun, suegra is a single root word that does not mention 'law' or 'marriage'.
Examples in context
- ¡Feliz cumpleaños, querida suegra! Espero que tenga un día maravilloso.Happy birthday, dear mother-in-law! I hope you have a wonderful day.
- Mi suegra vive en Madrid.My mother-in-law lives in Madrid.
- Tu suegra es muy amable.Your mother-in-law is very kind.
- Voy a visitar a mi suegra.I am going to visit my mother-in-law.
Example conversation
Mateo and Lucía are talking about their weekend plans.
- MateoLucía, ¿vienes a comer con mi suegra?Lucía, are you coming to eat with my mother-in-law?
- LucíaSí, me encantaría ir.Yes, I would love to go.
- MateoElla quiere conocerte mejor.She wants to get to know you better.
- LucíaQué amable es tu suegra.How kind your mother-in-law is.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “mother-in-law” translations and entries suegra, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries suegra, CC BY-SA 4.0.
