Sobrinos - nephew/niece plural (2025)

Hello,

We have a plural in Spanish for nephew / niece which is "sobrinos". When you say "sobrinos" it may refer to several nephews or to a mix of nephew(s) and niece(s). is there a word in English to translate "sobrinos"?

Thanks in advance.

jedi5384 said:

Hi. If they are all male, then "nephews", otherwise the only way I know to translate "sobrinos" is "nieces and nephews". We don't have a single word for it.

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Agreed. You can also say "my brother's / sister's children."

jedi5384 said:

Hi. If they are all male, then "nephews", otherwise the only way I know to translate "sobrinos" is "nieces and nephews". We don't have a single word for it.

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I guess you are an English native speaker, aren't you?
Sorry, if I am wrong, becasue I am a Spanish native speaker (from the Caribbean coast of Colombia, South America). But, according to what I have studied at the university for years, I've learnt that in English there are possibilities to say:
* Sobrino * Sobrina * Sobrinos ... For me:

Sobrino = Nephew
Sobrina = Niece
Sobrinos = Niblings

So,

. It is like brother, sister ... and brother + sister = siblings. e.g.:

I have 9 nephews and 5 nieces, for a total of 14 niblings.

If I am wrong, I really appreciate any English native speaker correct me.

G'day, virtual classmates!

The translation for "sobrinos" when it refers to both sexes is "nieces and nephews."

Regarding "nibling": a few kooks may have tried to turn "nibling" into a real word. But (thankfully) they have not succeeded. I estimate that 99 point something something percent of native English speakers have mercifully never heard this silly invention (by a linguist in 1951 perhaps).
I quote our colleague Biffo from a previous thread:

...
Yes - It seems pointless to use it. I imagine that the conversation would go like this.
"Hello my nibling."
"What's a nibling?"
"It's another word for niece or nephew."
"Oh."
At this point you would have to start the conversation again.
I agree. Don't use it.

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Do sibling and nibling sound like duckling, darling? (pronunciation -ling)

crisgomezj said:

Well, much to your disappointment, the word nibling does exist

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Agreed. But if native speakers have never heard of it, that must be something, I think.

jedi5384 said:

If they are all male, then "nephews", otherwise the only way I know to translate "sobrinos" is "nieces and nephews".

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Interestingly, it is usually in that order, too (rather than nephews and nieces). The order here isn't hard and fast (as it is in combinations such as "black and white" and "up and down"), but I almost always hear it as above.

crisgomezj said:

Well, much to your disappointment, the word nibling does exist

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Lots of things exist without being used by the majority of speakers. I personally use the verb "to wave" to mean cooking something in a microwave oven, but that doesn't mean it's a well-established usage that should be taught to learners of English.

If someone ever told me they had four niblings, I would imagine their brother/sister giving birth to four Oreo biscuits.

crisgomezj said:

I know what you all mean, I'm actually a Spanish native speaker and there are so many words in our vocabulary that I don't know and that aren't broadly used, but that doesn't mean if someone uses any of them or teach them to Spanish learners the usage is incorrect, just not commonly used, so I was only pointing out that the word does exist, so if someone used it, although it may sound strange it would be correct

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I mean, how do we define whether a word exists or not and whether a word is correct or not? Is a word correct simply because it appears in the dictionary, even if the vast majority of native speakers have never heard of and would never use such word?

Language is first and foremost a means of communication. If native speakers are not likely to understand or recognise the word niblings, is there really any value in telling learners that this word is technically correct?

Honestly, I am appalled that Cambridge decided to have an entry for nibling in its dictionary.