Family members in English
Learn family members in English, from parents and siblings to cousins, in-laws and step and half relations, with a family tree described in words.
In this lesson
Family members in English are the words we use for the people in our family, such as mother, father, brother and sister. Your immediate family is your parents, children, brothers and sisters. Your extended family includes grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. This lesson also covers in-laws, step and half relations, and how to describe a family tree.
Key point
Use ‘s to show how people are related: my mother’s brother is my uncle. Most family words come in male and female pairs, such as son and daughter or nephew and niece, but cousin is the same for both.
Who is in your immediate family?
Your immediate family is the people closest to you: your parents, your brothers and sisters, your husband or wife, and your children. These are the first family words to learn.
| Word | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| family | A group of people who are related, usually parents and their children. | There are five people in my family. |
| parents | Your mother and father. | My parents live in Kandy. |
| mother | Your female parent. | My mother is a teacher. |
| mum | An informal word for mother in British English. American English: mom. | Mum makes the best curry. |
| father | Your male parent. | My father works in a bank. |
| dad | An informal word for father. | Dad drives me to school every morning. |
| son | Someone’s male child. | They have one son and two daughters. |
| daughter | Someone’s female child. | Their daughter is a doctor. |
| child | A son or daughter. The plural is children. | They have three children. |
| brother | A boy or man who has the same parents as you. | My brother is older than me. |
| sister | A girl or woman who has the same parents as you. | My sister is studying in Colombo. |
| siblings | Your brothers and sisters. | Do you have any siblings? |
| husband | The man a woman is married to. | Her husband is a farmer. |
| wife | The woman a man is married to. | His wife works at the hospital. |
| spouse | Your husband or wife. It is a formal word, often used on forms. | Please write your spouse’s name on the form. |
| twin | One of two children born to the same mother at the same time. | My cousins are twins. |
| only child | A child who has no brothers or sisters. | I’m an only child. |
Examples
- How many people are there in your family? There are four of us.
- Do you have any brothers or sisters? Yes, I have one brother and two sisters.
- Are you married? Yes, I have a wife and a little son.
- This is my father. He is a bus driver.
Male and female family words
Many family words have a male form, a female form and a word for both. Use the word for both when you do not need to say if the person is male or female.
| Male | Female | Male or female |
|---|---|---|
| father | mother | parent |
| son | daughter | child |
| brother | sister | sibling |
| husband | wife | spouse |
| grandfather | grandmother | grandparent |
| grandson | granddaughter | grandchild |
| uncle | aunt | (no word) |
| nephew | niece | (no word) |
| (no word) | (no word) | cousin |
Who is in your extended family?
Your extended family includes everyone else you are related to: grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, nephews and nieces. In Sri Lanka, many families are big and close, so you will use these words often.
| Word | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| grandparents | The parents of your mother or father. | My grandparents live in a village near Galle. |
| grandmother | The mother of your mother or father. Informal: grandma, granny. | My grandmother tells us old stories. |
| grandfather | The father of your mother or father. Informal: grandpa, granddad. | My grandfather was a fisherman. |
| grandchildren | The children of your son or daughter. | My grandparents have eight grandchildren. |
| grandson | The son of your son or daughter. | Their grandson starts school this year. |
| granddaughter | The daughter of your son or daughter. | Her granddaughter plays the piano. |
| uncle | The brother of your mother or father, or the husband of your aunt. | My uncle owns a small shop. |
| aunt | The sister of your mother or father, or the wife of your uncle. | My aunt lives in Australia. |
| cousin | The child of your aunt or uncle. | I have more than twenty cousins. |
| nephew | The son of your brother or sister. | My nephew is five years old. |
| niece | The daughter of your brother or sister. | My niece wants to be a doctor. |
| great-grandmother | The mother of one of your grandparents. | My great-grandmother is ninety-five years old. |
| great-grandfather | The father of one of your grandparents. | I never met my great-grandfather. |
| relative | A member of your family. Also called a relation. | We invited all our relatives to the wedding. |
Common mistake
She is my cousin-sister. → She is my cousin.
Cousin-sister and cousin-brother are used in South Asian English, but in standard English cousin is the same word for a male or a female. If you need to be exact, say my female cousin or my cousin Dilini.
Note
In Sri Lanka, children often call older people aunty or uncle to show respect, even when they are not relatives. In Britain, auntie is the more common spelling, and people usually use it only for real aunts or close family friends.
What are in-laws?
When you marry, your husband’s or wife’s family become your in-laws. Add -in-law to a family word to show a relationship by marriage, not by birth.
| Word | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| in-laws | The parents and other relatives of your husband or wife. | We spend New Year with my in-laws. |
| mother-in-law | The mother of your husband or wife. | My mother-in-law is a wonderful cook. |
| father-in-law | The father of your husband or wife. | Her father-in-law is a retired teacher. |
| son-in-law | The husband of your daughter. | Their son-in-law is from Jaffna. |
| daughter-in-law | The wife of your son. | My daughter-in-law is a nurse. |
| brother-in-law | The brother of your husband or wife, or the husband of your sister. | My brother-in-law helped us move house. |
| sister-in-law | The sister of your husband or wife, or the wife of your brother. | My sister-in-law lives next door. |
Tip
To make the plural, add -s to the first word, not to law: two brothers-in-law, my sisters-in-law. For the whole group, just say my in-laws.
What do step and half mean in family words?
Families can change when parents marry again. Step- shows a relationship through a new marriage, with no shared parent. Half- shows that two people have one parent the same, but not both. Step words are written as one word (stepmother). Half words usually have a hyphen (half-brother).
| Word | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| stepmother | The woman who is married to your father but is not your mother. | My stepmother is very kind to me. |
| stepfather | The man who is married to your mother but is not your father. | Her stepfather taught her to swim. |
| stepson | The son of your husband or wife from an earlier relationship. | He has a stepson and a daughter. |
| stepdaughter | The daughter of your husband or wife from an earlier relationship. | Her stepdaughter is at university. |
| stepbrother | The son of your stepmother or stepfather. | My stepbrother and I go to the same school. |
| stepsister | The daughter of your stepmother or stepfather. | I share a room with my stepsister. |
| half-brother | A brother who has only one parent the same as you. | My half-brother is ten years younger than me. |
| half-sister | A sister who has only one parent the same as you. | She has two half-sisters. |
Examples
- My father married again, so his new wife is my stepmother.
- My stepmother has a son. He is my stepbrother.
- My father and my stepmother have a baby girl. She is my half-sister.
How do you describe a family tree in words?
Here is Nimal’s family tree in words. Nimal’s grandparents, Sunil and Kamala, have two children: Rohan and Malini. Rohan is married to Anoma, and they are Nimal’s parents. Malini is married to Ajith, and they have a daughter, Dilini. Nimal has an older sister, Sachini. Sachini is married to Kasun, and they have a baby son, Tharu.
| Person | Relationship to Nimal | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Sunil and Kamala | grandparents | They are his father’s parents. |
| Rohan | father | He is married to Anoma. |
| Anoma | mother | She is Rohan’s wife. |
| Malini | aunt | She is his father’s sister. |
| Ajith | uncle | He is his aunt’s husband. |
| Dilini | cousin | She is Malini and Ajith’s daughter. |
| Sachini | sister | She has the same parents as Nimal. |
| Kasun | brother-in-law | He is his sister’s husband. |
| Tharu | nephew | He is his sister’s son. |
Examples
- Malini is Rohan’s sister, so she is Nimal’s aunt.
- Dilini is Nimal’s cousin, and Nimal is Malini’s nephew.
- Tharu is Rohan and Anoma’s grandson.
- Kasun’s mother is Sachini’s mother-in-law.
- Sunil and Kamala have three grandchildren: Nimal, Sachini and Dilini.
Common mistake
This is the car of my father. → This is my father’s car.
With a plural noun that ends in -s, add only an apostrophe: my parents’ house, my grandparents’ village.
How can you practise family words?
Tip
Draw your own family tree and write one sentence for each person, for example Ruwan is my mother’s brother, so he is my uncle. Then describe your family to a friend without looking at the tree.
To talk about your family, you need is and are (This is my sister. They are my cousins.), so review the verb be: am, is and are. Words such as my, his and her are explained in personal pronouns and possessive adjectives. Use the simple present tense to say what each person does (My father works in a bank), and practise talking about your family in introducing yourself in English. Every family word from this lesson is also in our English Word Bank.
For more family and relationship words, see the Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries topic list of family and relationships and the Cambridge Dictionary entry for in-law.
Now check what you know with the practice quiz.
Summary
- Your immediate family is your parents, siblings, husband or wife, and children.
- Your extended family includes grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, nephews and nieces.
- Add -in-law for family by marriage; the plural is brothers-in-law, not brother-in-laws.
- Step- means related through a new marriage; half- means one shared parent.
- Use ‘s to show relationships: my father’s sister is my aunt.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between immediate family and extended family?
Your immediate family is your parents, children, brothers, sisters and husband or wife. Your extended family includes grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and other relatives.
What is the plural of brother-in-law?
The plural is brothers-in-law. Add -s to the first word: sisters-in-law, mothers-in-law.
Is cousin-sister correct English?
In standard British and American English, say cousin for both males and females. Cousin-sister and cousin-brother are used in South Asian English, but many international speakers will not understand them.
What is the difference between a stepbrother and a half-brother?
A half-brother shares one parent with you. A stepbrother is the son of your stepmother or stepfather, so you do not share a parent.
Should I say elder brother or older brother?
Both are correct before a noun: my elder brother, my older brother. After be and with than, use only older: My brother is older than me.
Practise this lesson
12 questions
