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'Irmãos', 'pais', 'filhos': one masculine plural for the whole mixed family group

In Portuguese, the masculine plural of a family word can cover a mixed group of men and women. Irmãos can mean brothers, but it usually means siblings, brothers and sisters together. In the same way, filhos means children (sons and daughters), tios means aunts and uncles, and pais means parents: a father and a mother.

English speakers trip over this in two ways. First, English often has a separate neutral word (siblings, parents, grandchildren) or needs two words (aunts and uncles), so it feels strange that a word built on irmão (brother) includes your sister. Second, when learners hear Tenho três irmãos, they tend to imagine three brothers, when the speaker may have two sisters and one brother.

Word list
avósmA1 grandparents avós = grandparents (avôs = grandfathers only) filhomA1 child filhos = children (sons and daughters) irmãomA1 brother irmãos = siblings (brothers and sisters) netomA1 grandchild netos = grandchildren paismA1 parents pais = father + mother tiomA1 uncle tios = aunts and uncles esposomA2 husband esposos = husband and wife, the married couple primomA2 cousin primos = cousins (male and female) sobrinhomA2 nephew sobrinhos = nephews and nieces gémeomB1 twin gémeos = twins, even a boy and a girl (European spelling) gêmeomB1 twin gêmeos = twins, even a boy and a girl (Brazilian spelling) noivomB1 fiancé noivos = engaged couple / bride and groom cunhadomB2 brother-in-law cunhados = brothers- and sisters-in-law enteadomB2 stepson enteados = stepchildren meio-irmãomB2 half brother meios-irmãos = half-siblings padrinhomB2 godfather padrinhos = godparents sogromB2 father-in-law sogros = parents-in-law afilhadomC1 godson afilhados = godchildren bisavômC1 great-grandfather bisavós = great-grandparents (bisavôs = great-grandfathers only) viúvomC1 widower viúvos = widowed people (widows and widowers) tataravômC2 great-great-grandfather tataravós = great-great-grandparents (tataravôs = men only) trisavômC2 great-great-grandfather trisavós = great-great-grandparents (trisavôs = men only)
How it works

Take the masculine family word and make it plural: irmão becomes irmãos, primo becomes primos. That plural can mean either all men or a mix of men and women. The feminine plural (irmãs, primas) is only used when every person in the group is female.

As soon as a group has at least one male, Portuguese uses the masculine plural, even if he is the only one. So the rule of thumb is simple: mixed group, masculine plural.

Tenho dois irmãos: um irmão e uma irmã.
(I have two siblings: a brother and a sister.)

To say brothers only, Portuguese speakers often just add the detail: dois irmãos rapazes, or they say dois irmãos and let the context make it clear.

The words
The closest family

Pais is the everyday word for parents. Filhos means children in the sense of sons and daughters, not children in general (that is crianças).

Os meus pais moram em Lisboa.
(My parents live in Lisbon.)
Eles têm três filhos: duas meninas e um menino.
(They have three children: two girls and a boy.)
Grandparents and grandchildren

Avós means grandparents, and netos means grandchildren.

Os meus avós vêm jantar no domingo.
(My grandparents are coming for dinner on Sunday.)
A minha mãe adora os netos.
(My mother adores her grandchildren.)
The wider family

Tios means aunts and uncles, primos means cousins of both sexes, and sobrinhos means nephews and nieces. English has no single word for the last group, but Portuguese does.

No verão, visitamos os tios no Porto.
(In the summer we visit our aunt and uncle in Porto.)
Os meus primos são muito divertidos.
(My cousins are really fun.)
Os meus sobrinhos chegam amanhã.
(My nephews and nieces arrive tomorrow.)
In-laws and step-family

Sogros means parents-in-law, cunhados means brothers- and sisters-in-law, enteados means stepchildren and meios-irmãos means half-siblings.

Os meus sogros são muito simpáticos.
(My parents-in-law are very nice.)
Os meus cunhados vêm ao casamento.
(My brothers- and sisters-in-law are coming to the wedding.)
Ela tem dois enteados e um filho.
(She has two stepchildren and a son.)
Os meus meios-irmãos são mais novos do que eu.
(My half-siblings are younger than me.)
Godparents and couples

Padrinhos means godparents (a godfather and a godmother) and afilhados means godchildren. Noivos is the engaged couple, or the bride and groom on their wedding day.

Os meus padrinhos têm muitos afilhados.
(My godparents have lots of godchildren.)
Os noivos chegaram à igreja.
(The bride and groom arrived at the church.)
Watch out
Avós and avôs

Grandfather is avô and grandmother is avó. The mixed plural is os avós, with the open accent of avó, not avôs. Os avôs means grandfathers only, and as avós means grandmothers only.

Pais is ambiguous

It is also the plain plural of pai, so in a sentence like os pais da escola it can mean fathers or parents. Almost always, it means parents.

Don't count wrongly

Tenho três irmãos doesn't tell you how many are brothers. If you need to know, ask: Irmãos ou irmãs?

Beyond family

The same rule works for other people words, such as amigos for a mixed group of friends.

Summary

When a family group includes at least one man or boy, use the masculine plural: pais (parents), irmãos (siblings), filhos (children), avós (grandparents), tios (aunts and uncles) and so on. Keep the feminine plural (irmãs, tias) for groups that are entirely female, and remember that the masculine plural on its own doesn't tell you how many men are in the group.