English Vocabulary: Family members (2)

When we talk about family and family members in English, it is quite difficult to express or address clearly the family relations, especially, when we want to address specific relation between members in the family in writing or conversation. In this lesson, we learn words used to talk about family – family members.

Words used to talk about family and family members

Here’s a list of vocabulary related to family members:

Immediate Family:
- Father / Dad: bố, cha hay ba
- Mother / Mom: mẹ hay má
- Parents: bố mẹ hay ba má
- Son: con trai
- Daughter: con gái
- Sibling (Brother or Sister): anh chị em
- Sister: Chị, em gái
- Brother: anh, em trai
Extended Family:
- Grandfather / Grandpa: ông nội (ông ngoại)
- Grandmother / Grandma: bà nội (bà ngoại)
- Grandparents: ông bà nội (ông bà ngoại)
- Grandson: cháu trai (cháu nội hay cháu ngoại)
- Granddaughter: cháu gái (cháu nội hay cháu ngoại)
- Uncle: chú, bác, cậu
- Aunt: cô, dì,
- Cousin: anh (chị) em họ
In-laws:
- Father-in-law: bố vợ (bố chồng)
- Mother-in-law: mẹ vợ (mẹ chồng)
- Son-in-law: con rể
- Daughter-in-law: con dâu
- Brother-in-law: anh (em) rể
- Sister-in-law: chị (em) dâu
Other Relationships:
- Nephew: cháu trai ( là con trai của anh trai/chị gái)
- Niece: cháu gái ( là con của anh trai / chị gái)
- Godfather: cha (bố) đỡ đầu
- Godmother: mẹ (má) đỡ đầu
- Stepfather: cha (ba) kế (chồng của mẹ khi bà ấy tái hôn)
- Stepmother: mẹ kế (vợ của bố/cha sau khi ông tái hôn)
- Stepson: con riêng ( là con trai)
- Stepdaughter: con riêng (là con gái)
Generic Terms:
- Relative: bà con, họ hàng
- Family member: thành viên gia đình
- Kin: dòng họ, có họ hàng

Family memers – words in context

We are going to use words we learned above to talk about family and family members. Let’s get started with questions about your family.

These are some common questions that you can be asked to describe your family.

How big is your family?
Do you live with your grandparents? Do you like that? Why? / Why not?
What do you and your family usually do together?
What are you most proud of your family?
Who is the troublemaker in your family? What does he/she do that creates trouble to you or the other family members?
Tell me about your family.

Describe your family!

I come from a big family of 5 children. And I’m the eldest son. My father is Tom, 56 years old and he’s a teacher in a high school. He likes his job very much, and he works very hard. He spends 3 to 4 hours on planning the lessons and doing research at home after teaching at school.

My mother is Mary, 54 years old, and she’s a housewife. She just stays at home to take care of the family and does the gardening. She plants a lot of vegetables and flowers in our garden.

I’ve got 3 brothers and a sister. My first brother is Tom. He’s 21 years old. He’s a student at Technology University. Johnson’s 17 years old. He’s a student in high school. And my third brother is Alex, he is 6 years old, and is a student at a primary school in Ho Chi Minh city. He likes reading books and listening to music.

Jessica is my sister. She’s 24 years old. She graduated from University on 10 August this year. And she just got a job in Ho Chi Minh city.

I’m happy to have a wonderful family. I love my family very much.

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