3 Expressing your identity in Spanish

The cumbia knows quite well who she is, but you may still discovering who you are. There are two ways to define your identidad: ethnicity=etnicidad and cultura=culture. Your etnicidad is defined by your DNA, your biological parents, and your physical features. Your cultura is defined by your behavior, language, traditions, values, and all that links you to a community.

Ejemplos de etnicidades:

• Indígena (=indigenous, both male and female)
• Negro (male) or negra (female).
• Blanco (male) or blanca (female)
• Mestizo (male) or mestiza (female), it’s the mixture of indigenous and white

Ejemplos de cultura:

• Navajo, Ute, Apache, Yupic, Pueblo… You may just say the word in English
• Hispano (male) or hispana (female), OR Latino (male), Latina (female). Hispano or Hispana if you speak or understand Spanish natively, Latino or Latina if you speak Spanish or Portuguese or French from Latin America.
• Anglo (both female and male), English heritage. You can say “anglo-americano” or “anglo-americana” to link you with English speakers in los Estados Unidos o Canada as different from British.
• Afro (both male and female): when your cultural traditions are linked to the African heritage.

Then you can start to combine in case you have a hybrid culture AND/OR ethnicity:

• Anglo-hispano (male) or anglo-hispana (female): you are a combination of Anglo and Hispanic.
• Afro-americano (male) or afro-americana (female): you are a combination of African descendent and Anglo-American.
• Afro-latino (male) or afro-latina (female): you are negro or negra from Latino origins.
• Afro-antillano (male) and afro-antillana (female) expresan tu origen afro en cualquier isla del caribe hispana o no: Jamaica, Cuba, Haití, Curazao…

If you don’t know how to hyphenize it, just use the word Y (pronounced /ee/) which means “and”. If you are indigenous, keep in mind that being indigenous is not a culture. Being Navajo, Ute, Apache or Pueblo are cultures. You can say “Yo soy indígena Navajo y anglo-americano” (=I’m navajo indigenous and male anglo-american).

In Spanish YOU DON’T CAPITALIZE NATIONALITIES, IDENTITIES OR ETHNICITIES.

To speak about your identity, use the verbo ser, which means “to be”:

• Yo soy=I am
• Tú eres=You are (one person)
• Él es = he is, ella es = she is, es = it is, usted es = you is (formal, normal)
• Nosotros (male) / nosotras (female) somos = we are
• Ellos son =they (male) are, ellas son=they (female) are, ustedes son=You (two or more) are

Your name is a big part of your identity. There are several ways to tell your name in Spanish:

• Saying the word nombre=name: Mi nombre es Ana (=My name is Ana).
• Saying the word llamo=I-call: Me llamo ana (=I call myself…) DON’T SAY ME LLAMO ES!!!
• Using the verb to be: Yo soy Ana.

Similarly, there are several ways to ask the name of someone in Spanish:

• Saying the word nombre=name: ¿Cuál es tu nombre? (=Which is your name?). Idiomatically you should choose “cuál” instead of “qué” for this question, like you could choose between names.
• Saying the word llamas=you-call: ¿Cómo te llamas? (=How do you call yourself?)
• Using the verb to be: ¿Quién eres? (=Who are you?) but it sounds too philosophical or as if you distrust the person, or just like you are gringx.

Saying someone else’s name

• Su nombre es Carlos Enrique=His name is Carlos Enrique.
• Se llama Carlos Enrique=He calls himself Carlos Enrique.
• Es Carlos Enrique=He’s Carlos Enrique.

Sample conversations

Greeting someone you know:

A: Hola, ¿cómo estás? (=Hi, how are you feeling?)

B: Bien, ¿y tú? (=Well, and you?)

A: Bien, gracias. (=Well, thanks)

While “estás” asks about a feeling, it’s not genuinely asking about your feeling. It’s just a greeting which you respond to “well”. If you respond with a real feeling: cansada (tired, female) OR cansada (tired, male), feliz (=happy), triste (=sad)… you mean you want to talk more.

• ¿Cómo eres? =How are you? What are you like? Uses verb ser
• ¿Cómo estás? =How are you (feeling)? Uses verb estar

Introducing yourself and major:

A: Hola.

B: Hola.

A: ¿Cómo te llamas? (=What’s your name, lit. how do you call yourself?)

B: Me llamo _____________ (add name). ¿Y tú?

A: Me llamo _____________. Mucho gusto (=lit. much pleasure, idiom. nice to meet you)

B: Mucho gusto.

A: ¿Qué estudias? (=What do you study?)

B: Estudio _________________ (I study… add major). ¿Y tú? (=And you?)

A: Estudio _________________.

If you don’t study, you can use the sentence:

NO ESTUDIO (=I don’t study). TRABAJO EN = I work in __________ (add area). OR ENSEÑO (=I teach) ________ (add area).

You should always find the easiest way to tell your major. While your major originally may contain too many words, find a way to say it in just a single word that you can remember.

• Accounting: contaduría /contadoorEEa/
• Adventure: deportes extremos /depOrtes ekstrEmos/
• Anthropology: antropología /antropolohEEa/
• Art studio: árte /Arteh/
• Biochemistry: bioquímica /byokEEmeeka/
• Biology: biología /byolohEEa/
• Business: negocios /negOsyos/ (say it for any major related to business)
• Computer Science: computación /computasyOn/
• Criminology: criminología /kreemeenolohEEa/
• Geology: geología /heolohEEa/
• Education: educación /educasyOn/ (say it for any major in education)
• Engineering: ingeniería /eenhenyerEEa/
• English: inglés /eenglEs/
• Environmental studies: ecología /ekolohEEa/
• History: historia /eestOrya/
• Health sciences: salud /salood/
• Journalism: periodismo /peryodEEsmo/
• Languages: lenguas /lénguas/ (say for any major in languages)
• Nutrition: nutrición /nutrisyOn/
• Nursing: enfermería /efermerEEa/
• Public Health: salud pública /salOOd pOObleeka/
• Phylosophy: filosofía /feelosofEEa/
• Psychology: psicología /sikolohEEa/
• Sociology: sociología /sosyolohEEa/
• Theater: teatro /teAtro/
• Sports: deportes /depOrtes/
• Undecided: “No he decidido” is a phrase you say if you haven’t decided your major. It means “I haven’t decided”

If you haven’t decided, OMIT THE WORD “ESTUDIO”.

Talking about your identity:

A: ¿Eres indígena?

B: Sí, yo soy indígena. OR No, yo no soy indígena.

A: ¿Eres blanco (towards a man) OR blanca (towards a woman)?

B: Sí, yo soy blanca. OR No, yo no soy blanca. (female)

Sí, yo soy blanco. OR No, yo no soy blanco. (male)

A: ¿Eres mestizo (towards a man) OR mestiza (towards a woman)?

B: Sí, yo soy mestiza. OR No, yo no soy mestiza. (=if it’s a female answering)

A: ¿Cuál es tu cultura?

B: Yo soy ______________ (add culture).

Talking about your origins:

A: ¿De dónde eres? (=Where are you from?)

B: Yo soy de ___________ (add city and state).

A: ¿De dónde son tu papá y tu mamá?

B: Ellos son de ___________ (add city and state). OR: Mi papá es de ____________ y mi mamá es de _____________.

A: ¿De dónde es Bad Bunny?

B: Éll es de ______________. Ask about: Karol G, Selena, Daddy Yankee, Celia Cruz, JLo, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Justin Bieber, or other famous people.

Talking about your birthplace:

A: ¿Dónde naciste?

B: Nací en ________________ (add place).

A: ¿Cuándo naciste?

B: Nací el _________________ (add date).

A: ¿Dónde nacieron tu papá y to mamá?

B: Mi papá nació en __________ y mi mamá nació en __________.

Nacer (=to birth) is a verb that you take an agency over. It’s not something that was done to you. You conjugate it “nací” (I birthed), “naciste” (You birthed) or “nacieron” (They birthed).