Learn the Top 20 MustKnow Family Words in English

Want to speak real English from your first
lesson?

Today, where are we gonna go today?

We’ve been to the piscina, we’ve been to the
playa.

Bi-biblio… library, vamos a la biblioteca.

Hi, everybody, my name is Alisha.

Welcome back to Top Words.

Today we’re going to be talking about 20 must
know family words so let’s go!

Mother

Mother is the person who gave birth to you, mother.

You can say mom, mother, mom, mama mummy.

“My mother has amazing cooking!” It’s true!

Father

Father is the person who did not give birth

to you but who helped make you happen.

So we say father, dad, daddy, pa, pop.

“My father is a very level-headed person.”

that’s also true.

Sister

Sister is a female sibling, so my brother

might say “I have an older sister.”

Anyone who is a female sibling, or someone
you can use this for friends that you feel

very very close to, like, “she’s like my sister.”

that’s fine as well.

Brother

We sometimes use “bro” for this.

I would say “I have a younger brother.”

Like sister, you can use brother for any male
that you feel is similar to a brother; someone

you feel very close to.

So “He’s like a brother to me” or “You’re
like my brother.”

Grandmother

When you put “grand” plus something else,

it means the next generation or the previous
generation, so you have your mother and father,

in this case grandmother means your mother
or your father’s mother.

It can be either of them, so grandmother.

“My grandmother was born a long time ago.”

Grandfather

Grandfathers are just like grandmother, your

mother or your father’s father is your grandfather.

“My grandfather liked to play tennis”
That’s true.

Uncle

Your uncle is either your mother or your father’s

brother, someone directly related to one of
your parents who is a man is your uncle.

“My uncle is very good with woodworking.”

Also true.

Aunt

You might also hear aunt, both of them are correct.

You can say aunt or aunt; an aunt or an aunt
is your mother or your father’s female sibling.

“One of my aunts gave me a stamp collection
when I was a little kid.”

That’s also true.

Cousin

Cousin is your aunt or uncle’s children, it

can be on any side, so typically these people
are of the same generation as you, not always,

but cousins are generally about the same age,
at least in my family, they are.

“It’s really fun to see all my cousins at
family barbecues.”

Nephew

A nephew is a sibling’s male child.

So if you have a brother or a sister and they
have children, any male children, are your

nephews.

Nephews.

“I don’t have any nephews.”

Niece

Niece, so your brother or your sister’s female

children, any female children they have.

You can say “She’s my niece” or “I have
two nieces, how many nieces do you have”

or “I have a lot of nieces.”

Wife

So this is a female partner that you are married to.

“She is my wife” or “how is your wife?”

Wife is only used when you are married to
that person.

Husband

Husband is a male that someone is married to.

So “how is your husband?”, “this is my husband.”

Again, husband is only used when you are married
to that person.

Parent

Parent is typically used generally for

a mother or a father, like “I’m a parent”,
“he is my parent”, “she is my parent.”

It’s often used in the plural “they are
my parents,” “these are my parents,”

“my parents are home,” “my parents are
not at home.”

But you can also use parent to describe someone
who raised you, so maybe your biological mother

or father did not raise you, but someone else
like an aunt or an uncle, or perhaps a different

figure in your community did raise you, you
can say “she’s like a parent to me” or

“she had a parenting role in my life.”

Child

Child is a small human, a small human is a child.

It doesn’t necessarily have to be of your
family, like, if you’re just at the park and

you see kids running around you can say “ah!
look at that child.”

You can use a child in the singular, but be
careful, child changes in the plural form

to children, so not ‘childs,’ but children.

One child, two children.

Please be careful, this has an irregular plural form.

“Maybe I’ll have a child someday.”

Son

Son is a male child, a male offspring.

“My uncle has a lot of sons.”

That’s not true.

Daughter

A daughter is a female child.

“I wonder if I will ever have a daughter.”

Brother-in-law

So we use in-law to mean our married partner’s

family members; not my brother but my partner’s brother.

“In-law” is used after any family member’s
position or family member’s title to show

they belong to my partner’s family originally,
but now they’re part of my extended family

as well.

“I’m going out for drinks with my brother-in-law
tomorrow night.”

Father-in-law

So we have in-law here, meaning my partner’s father.

So “my father-in-law is very kind”.

Mother-in-law

Mother-in-law, meaning my partner’s mother.

In a sentence, “my mother-in-law and I get
along really well.”

And that’s the end!

So those are 20 Must-Know Family Words that
you can use to talk about your family, your

partner’s family, and the families of the
people around you.

They’re very useful so try them out.

Thanks very much for watching this episode
of Top Words, and we will see you again soon

for more fun stuff.

Thanks very much for watching, bye!

You’re finding out all kinds of things.