How to Talk About Your Home in Spanish
Home is where the heart is, isn’t it? Home is where our roots are, where our ancestors are from, and where our family lives. Home is where we create a comfortable space for living. A house may be anything from a high-rise apartment in the center of a pulsating city to a rustic cabin in the middle of nowhere. We make a house into a home with love, kindness, care, and gratitude.
A common reference to home in Spanish that you may already know is Mi casa es tu casa, which is a heart-warming dicho (saying) used in Mexico and other countries in Latin America. It literally translates to “my house is your house,” and invites the guest to feel at home. Yet, an even more popular phrase that you’re likely to hear in conversation is ¡Estás en tu casa!—meaning make yourself at home. Latinxs tend to be super warm and welcoming folks.
Being able to talk about your home in Spanish is a wonderful thing that can help you connect with native speakers in your community or during your travels. Deepen your conversational fluency by learning the myriad ways to discuss the house and home in Spanish!
Hogar vs Casa
Two words are commonly used to mean “home” in Spanish: el hogar and la casa. In general, the distinction between them is similar to the difference between “home” and “house” (respectively) in English.
The word “house” refers to the physical building, as opposed to the feelings of warmth and belonging evoked by the concept of “home.” However, hogar and casa are closely related, and they are often used interchangeably in Spanish.
While un hogar typically refers to a residential building of any sort, it can also refer to:
- a fireplace or hearth
- a lobby or gathering space
- a family unit that lives together
Soy de Texas, pero mi segundo hogar ha sido en Guatemala por los últimos 11 años.
I’m from Texas, but my second home has been in Guatemala for the past 11 years.
Nuestra casa está situada cerca del Lago de Atitlán.
Our home is located close to Lake Atitlán.
Con la llegada de Jade nuestro hogar está de fiesta.
Our home will be celebrating with Jade’s arrival.
Quisiera construir otra casa en México.
I would like to build another house in Mexico.
La casa nueva de mis papas es el sitio perfecto para los niños porque tiene una piscina.
My parents’ new house is the perfect place for children because it has a pool.
Ways to Say Home in Spanish
la casa – house, household, place, homestead, home
el hogar – home, hearth, fireplace, fireside, grate,
el domicilio – domicile, residence, abode, place of residence, residency
la residencia – residence, residency, hostel, hall
la patria – homeland, fatherland, motherland, mother country, native land
la morada – dwelling, abode
el punto inicial – home
Home in Spanish: Adjectives
casero/a – homemade, domestic
Mi vecina alimenta a sus mascotas con comida casera.
My neighbor feeds her pets’ homemade food.
doméstico/a – domestic, household, menial
La nueva casa de mi tía incluye un teatro doméstico con diez asientos.
My aunt’s new house has a home theater with 10 seats.
hogareño/a – homey, homelike, domestic, stay-at-home
Su vida hogareña temprana fue difícil.
His early home life was difficult.
de casa (adjective) – household, indoor
Mi esposo es el amo de casa.
My husband is the homemaker.
Phrases Related to Home in Spanish
dirección de casa – home address
¿Cual es tu dirección de casa? – What is your home address?
quedarse en casa – stay at home
Quédate en casa. – Stay home. (command)
salir de casa – leave home
Yo salgo de casa. – I’m going out of the house.
ven a casa – come home
Ven a casa antes de la noche, por favor. – Come home before dark, please.
llegar a casa – get home
Tardé 12 horas en llegar a casa. – It took me 12 hours to get home.
ir a casa – go home
Me voy a casa. – I’m going home.
Vete a casa. – Go home. (command)
Vamos a casa a las nueve. – We are going home at nine.
en casa – at home
No estoy en casa. – I’m not at home.
Ahora paso mucho tiempo en casa. – Now I spend a lot of time at home.
mudarse de casa – to move (to change houses)
Diana va a mudarse a Nueva York. – Diana is going to move to New York.
poner la casa en orden – clean house
Tenemos que poner nuestra casa en orden. – We have to put our house in order.
viajar a casa – travel home
¡Que tenga un buen viaje a casa! – I wish you a safe journey home.
comprar una casa – buy a house
Nosotros pensábamos comprar una casa. – We were thinking about buying a house.
esta casa – this house
En esta casa crecí. – I grew up in this house.
de casa en casa – from house to house
Iba de casa en casa buscándola. – He was looking for her from house to house.
Home in Spanish Dichos
Hogar dulce hogar – Home sweet home
Especialidad de la casa – Specialty of the house
Un error grande como una casa – a huge mistake (A mistake the size of a house)
Anda como Pedro por su casa – Acts like he owns the place (Goes around like Pedro in his house)
More Uses of “Home” in Spanish
1. To refer to institutional residences, hogar typically is used (although casa can be, too).
La entrada de un abuelo en un hogar de ancianos puede ser una experiencia traumática.
The entry of a grandparent into a nursing home can be a traumatic experience.
2. When “home” refers to the center or original place, various translations can be used:
Hollywood es el centro de las películas.
Hollywood is the home of movies.
Mi esposo es de Nariño, Colombia, la tierra de las papas riquísimas.
My husband is from Nariño, Colombia, home of delicious potatoes.
Wendy’s es el creador de la hamburguesa cuadrada.
Wendy’s is the home of the square hamburger.
3. In board games and sports like baseball where reaching “home” is the goal of the game, home is usually la meta or el final.
4. The most common terms for “homeless” are sin hogar, sin casa, and sin vivienda. The formal term you’d hear on the news for homeless people is los sinhogares, but they are more commonly referred to as gente de la calle in everyday language.
5. In the online world, the “home page” is the página principal or página inicial. A link to a Spanish site’s home page is often labeled Inicio.
Home Sweet Home
¿Dónde vives? ¿Cómo está tu casa? What’s your favorite part of your current home life? Leave me a comment below in Spanish!
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There’s something I can’t get an answer to … you might be able to decipher what my question is. Nominally, it’s about the use of “de” in Spanish , of course. When constructing sentences using what I will call a two word noun (though quickly you’ll find a better word for what I mean), I often have a hard time knowing whether the second half of the two-word noun* needs a definite or indefinite article. They say knowing when something requires a definite or indefinite article is the answer, but I´m not seeing a consistent pattern.
doctor´s wife, esposa de médico in general, so no definite article, right?
eye doctor, doctor de ojos also general
school friends, amigas de la escuela also general but takes a definite article?
cheese factory, fábrica de queso I guess it´s not a specific company´s factory, but it is specific to cheese so I would believe it if Google translate said fábrica del queso
Where am I going wrong? I think I´m not seeing a pattern because I´m no asking the question right, or there´s a missing link. Any ideas?
Hi Mary! “de” is not an article but a preposition. You may be thinking of the article “del” which means “de el”. Definite or indefinite articles are used to indicate specificity and gender, so let’s look at the cheese factory example:
fábrica de queso > cheese factory (no article, you could be talking about any factory)
fábrica del queso > cheese factory (referring to a specific cheese)
“de” isn’t an article so nothing is being specified, unlike “del” where there’s a specific kind of cheese that’s being talked about.
Let me knonw if this helped, and if you have any more questions!