3. But, there is more. Read the information about family members.
Nuclear Family
Your nuclear family is your immediate family.
Usually, it’s the family who lives together in one house and typically consists of
a mother, father and their children.
But as you’ll see, it can get a little more complicated.
Taken and adapted from: https://www.clarkandmiller.com/family-vocabulary-family-members-in-english/
4. Children
Other words for “children”
Kids — This is a more informal and more
common word.
Offspring — This one is very technical.
It’s the sort of word biologists use when
they’re talking about cows or rabbits.
5. Son Other words for “son”
If a parent has more than one son, they
often refer to them collectively as “my
boys.”
“Don’t worry about me. My boys
will look after me.”
7. Other words for “daughter”
You can also talk about “my girls” if you
have more than one daughter.
“Have you met my girls? They’re
all studying finance. Apart from
Celine. She’s working on a time
machine these days.”
11. Other words for “brother”
Another word for “brother” is “bro.” It’s a nice, friendly word,
and it shows that you’re close to your brother.
You can also use it with very close male friends to express
closeness to them. It’s pretty informal and might make you
sound a bit like a Californian surfer, but it’s friendly and fairly
common.
“Hey bro! You going to Jasmine’s party
tonight?”
If your brother was born on the same day as you (to the
same mother), he’s your twin brother.
12. Sister Other words for “sister”
We can shorten “sister” to just “sis.”
“Hi, sis! How’s it going?”
If your sister was born on the same day
as you (to the same mother), she’s your
twin sister.
13. Parents
Other words for “parents”
Another word for “parents” is
“folks.”
“I’m visiting my folks this
weekend.”
15. Other words for “mother”
Mum — This is quite informal and quite common. It’s the word I
use when I talk about my mum, even if I’m talking to people I
don’t know that well.
Mummy — This one is kind of childish and probably best used
between a child and her mother. If you’re still using this at the
age of 29, some people might consider it a little unusual.
Mom — This is very common in the US but not in the UK or
Ireland or Australia … or anywhere else really. But there are a
lot of Americans out there, so you might hear this from time to
time.
17. Other words for “father”
Dad — This one is like “mum.” It’s very common and is
what most people in my family use.
Pop — This is only really used in the US. It’s got a nice
sound to it, though, hasn’t it?
Pa / papa — A little old fashioned these days, but you
still might hear this from time to time.
My old man — Some people refer to their father as “my
old man.”
19. Other words for “husband”
Hubby — A nice, informal
way of talking about your
husband.
20. Partner
Wait — what exactly does it mean?
When people talk about their partner, it could
be a husband or a wife. But often it signals that
these people aren’t married (or sometimes that
they don’t feel the gender of their partner is
important for the conversation).
Basically, we use it to mean “that person you
love and have a relationship with.”
21. Other words for “partner”
A lot of these are quite romantic …
My other half — Nice, isn’t it?
My better half — Even better! I like using this one.
My significant other — See! Still romantic! Even a little poetic!
(Remember that with the three phrases above, we just say, e.g., “my significant other” or “my
better half.” We don’t usually say, “I have a better half.”)
22. Girlfriend / boyfriend — A few generations ago, if you said
you had a girlfriend or a boyfriend, people wouldn’t think
your relationship was that serious.
These days, that’s not the case as much. If you’re in a
serious relationship, and you’re not married, then you can
use these words.
Fiancée / fiancé — The person you’ve promised to marry.
There’s probably a ring involved. Notice that this is one of
the very unusual situations in English where we have a
different spelling for females (fiancée) and males (fiancé).
Spouse — This means husband or wife. It rhymes with
“mouse.”
24. Wait — what exactly does it mean?
Let’s think about the nice family in the picture.
Zerin is divorced and has a child, Filiz, from her first
marriage. She’s now married to Alexey, who also
has a child from a previous marriage — Val.
So we have a household with four people living in it:
Zerin and her daughter, Filiz; and Alexey and his
son, Val.
How do we describe their relationships?
Zerin is Val’s stepmother, and Val is Zerin’s stepson.
Meanwhile, Alexey is Filiz’s stepfather, and Filiz is
Alexey’s stepdaughter.
27. Cousin Wait — what exactly does it mean?
Your cousin is your uncle and aunt’s child.
In some languages, there are different words
depending on which side of the family your
cousin is, or whether your cousin is male or
female. Again, this is where English is pretty
efficient. We use one word for all of them!They
are all cousins!
Other words for “cousin” If you want to be more casual and informal, you can say
“cuz.” “Ben? Oh, he’s my cuz.”
30. Other words for “grandfather”
Granddad — A little more common and less formal
Grandpa — Similar to granddad. The choice is yours!
Other words for “grandmother”
Gran — A less formal way of saying “grandmother.”
Granny — So cosy, friendly and loving!
Grandma — Similar to “granny.”
Nanna — This is only common in some parts of the English-speaking world. You’ll hear it
in northern England and Northeast US.
But be careful! In some countries, “nanna” can mean “godmother” (more about that later)
and even “nanny,” which actually makes more sense, but is less common.
31. Godfather / godmother / godson / goddaughter
This originally started as a religious thing but is much more
general now. Traditionally, when a child was born, the parents
chose a godfather and a godmother for the child. They would
be responsible for the child’s religious education. But these
days, godfathers and godmothers are just symbolic. However,
many kids don’t have godfathers or godmothers at all anymore.
32. The in-laws
Wait — what exactly does it mean?
If you want to talk about your wife’s or husband’s family, just add
“in-law.”
So your wife’s sister? She’s your sister-in-law.
Your husband’s mum? She’s your mother-in-law.
You can take this to any extreme. So your wife’s cousin is your
cousin-in-law.
We also have a phrase, “the in-laws,” to describe any or all of your
husband’s or wife’s family as a group.
Perhaps it’s just the parents:
“The in-laws have invited us for dinner.”
Or the whole family.
“That was a big wedding. I met all of the in-laws.”
33. Other Words for Talking About
Family
Family
This is actually quite a general term. It can refer to someone in your
nuclear family / immediate family (like your sister or your dad) or
your more distant family (like your fourth cousin twice removed —
whoever that is). When we talk about distant family, we can also use
the phrase “extended family.”
Other words for “family”
The fam — It’s a shorter, more informal way of talking about your
family.
34. Relatives
“Relatives” is also a general term (like “family”). There are close relatives — like sisters, aunts or cousins
— and distant relatives — your great-great-uncle or your third cousin once removed, for example.
Other words for “relatives” Rellies — A shorter, less formal word for “relatives.”
Ancestors
When we talk about our ancestors, we’re usually talking about our family in a more historical way.
Imagine the people living 100 or 200 (or 1,000 or 10,000) years ago. People who you’re related to but
you just don’t really know about.
The word “family” has a lot of emotional meaning behind it. The word “ancestor” is more objective.
“My ancestors came from eastern Siberia and finally settled in southern Europe in the mid 16th century.”
Descendant
This is very similar to “ancestor.” It’s used in a more historical, objective way. What’s the difference
between a descendant and an ancestor? Well, an ancestor is someone who lived before, but a
descendant is someone who lived after.
“I want my descendants to remember my work and keep my name!”
We can also use the passive phrase “descended from” to describe where someone’s family came from:
“Did you know that your mother’s side of the family is descended from pirates! Pretty cool, huh?”
35. Taken and adapted from: https://www.clarkandmiller.com/family-vocabulary-family-members-in-english/
