How to Talk About Your Family in English Basic English Grammar
live Oh are we on here not you okay good
then I’m gonna start again hi everybody
welcome back to our weekly live stream
my name is Alisha and today we’re going
to talk about how to talk about your
family in English so for today I’m going
to explain some basic things like over
here I’m going to talk about your family
makeup so family makeup means the people
in your family so your parents brothers
sisters and so on this will be some
review maybe but we’ll practice some
basic sentence structures here then
we’ll talk about your family members
professions that means your family
members jobs so how to explain that what
do they do
then we’ll talk about how to explain
where your family members live or just a
couple of other things that you can do
to explain like um where in the world
they are so those are our three topics
for today so I hope that you can send
lots of messages in the chat this is
going to be a good live stream I think
for beginner learners but I hope that if
your intermediate or advanced you can
find something new here too so we’ll
begin in just a couple minutes I will
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you’re just joining yes today’s topic is
how to talk about your family how to
talk about your family so I think there
are lots of people alive let’s get
started okay so I said today we’re going
to start by talking about family make up
family make up so this is maybe a good
kind of intermediate or advanced keyword
this word make up so make up here
doesn’t mean like you know like
eyeshadow or lip color or anything make
up with in this use means like the parts
of something that create a larger thing
so your family makeup means the people
who create your family so for this part
I want to do a little bit of review then
so to begin siblings siblings is the
first category I want to talk about so
siblings means your brothers and sisters
brothers and sisters so these are a few
sentence patterns that you can use to
talk about brothers and sisters that you
may have or not have so um let’s begin
in this case this is if there are no
brothers and sisters some zero brothers
and sisters this is the first case if
you have no brothers no sisters you can
use the expression I’m an only child I’m
an only child
only child so meaning one there’s
one child in my family it’s me
so here don’t forget this I’m I’m an
only child don’t forget your article
here either
I’m an only child so there are no other
there’s I don’t have a brother I don’t
have a sister I’m an only child
if you do have a brother or if you do
have a sister you can use a pattern like
the next one so I’ve included two
siblings here you can say I have an
older brother and you can finish here if
that’s the case but for this example I
have an older brother and a younger
sister so I’ve introduced here two words
you can use in talking about your family
for the rest of this lesson actually so
this word older and younger so sometimes
students ask about the word elder elder
elder sounds old-fashioned we don’t use
really elder very much to talk about our
siblings we use it maybe to talk about
actually old people in our society our
elders for example but we don’t use it
so much to talk about our siblings
instead I recommend the word older not
elder older older so that’s one point
here second point here is when you’re
talking about your brothers and sisters
you’ll notice I’ve included articles
here so one don’t forget your article
that’s one but when you’re talking about
an older sibling oh so it starts with
this vowel sound yeah when it starts
with a vowel sound remember that your
article needs to be and I have an older
brother I have an older brother if
you’re talking about a younger a younger
sibling this starts with that yeah sound
so kind of a consonant sound you need to
use this article so I have an older
brother and
young-earth sister so please don’t
forget these articles that’s an
important review point I think okay and
I’ll try to check the chat good you may
on face our YouTube says I have an older
sister and a younger brother perfect
nice other ones vom Louis yes this is
live hello masya says I have two
brothers and I’m the middle ah I’ll get
to that point in just a second mafia
about being in the middle let’s see if
you have other ones send them over other
examples okay let’s go to the next one
if you have more than like one sibling
you can use this pattern I have plus
your number of sisters or brothers so
you can combine this and like I did in
this sentence for example so here for
example I have two sisters or I have
three brothers for example a point to be
careful of here is this s make it plural
I have two sisters I have two brothers
so you could say I have two sisters and
three brothers if you want to combine
them so just use this number pattern
don’t forget your plural that’s a key
point for this one okay
then finally for this beginning part is
this one I mentioned it in response to
messiahs comment on Facebook this I’m
the middle child
so I started this point with this
expression I’m an only child
I’m an only child here we’re gonna use
I’m I’m the middle child so middle child
means I have a sibling here and I have a
sibling here without meaning I have an
older sibling and I have a younger
sibling then this is me my terrible
happy so this is me this is me in the
middle in the middle so I’m the middle
child I
the middle child this is the expression
we use always this it’s because I’m the
middle child in my family there’s only
one middle child it’s me I’m the middle
child in my family but please use this
expression if you have an older sibling
and a younger sibling and you are in the
middle
okay um gel birth on youtube I have two
sister and a brother like I said don’t
forget this s I have two sisters
don’t forget your s make it plural
please uh okay I am the middle child to
someone good I have to I’m not sure with
that way I have two brothers
I mean enough again so careful
don’t forget many of you are forgetting
to make this plural this s right here
brothers I have two brothers - one
brother two brothers so don’t forget
that test I have three sisters good
let’s see Oh someone says how do I have
say siblings by my father interesting so
you can say like I have two siblings
let’s see that gets a little bit more
complicated I think I’m not sure
actually about your situation so I won’t
answer that one specifically maybe I can
come back to that later many of you are
saying I’m the middle child ah someone
says I’m a old sister in my family
that’s a great one if you yourself if
you are this one if you are this child
here you’re not the middle child you can
say here I’ll make anyone I’m oh can
they see this here yes okay thanks I’m
the oldest
I’m the oldest so here you see we’re
using the superlative yeah I’m the
oldest I’m the oldest so not older oh
there are comparative ease okay I’m the
oldest I’m the oldest so if this is you
if this is you you are the oldest the
oldest child in your family
on the other hand if this is you you can
say I’m the youngest I’m the youngest so
here we have some good grammar points
today I’m the oldest I’m the youngest
here I’m getting it very weird
okay I’m oldest I’m the youngest um hope
that helps some of you Wow someone says
I have four brothers wow that’s big I
have one brother do you have even
brothers sisters one a little brother
aa little brother yeah you can say
little or big for younger or older too
so we could say little brother or little
sister and big brother or big sister as
well okay that was a lot fun okay um so
let’s go on I’m warm let’s go on to the
next part
ah good you guys have great sentences
three brothers two sisters nice okay so
let’s go on to this part children so
part two for this part is children so I
don’t know if you have kids I don’t have
kids but if you do here’s how to talk
about it so first one children so as we
talked about with siblings I have number
you can use I have number plus kids kids
so this kid is more casual and more
friendly I feel more commonly used than
children you can say children children
here children is okay that’s fine I have
two children children is okay to use I
prefer kids I have two kids I have three
kids if you have one don’t use the
plural I have one kid I have one kid one
kid
two
kids so caution on your singular and
plural forms okay then if you don’t have
kids if you’re like me you can say I
don’t have kids I don’t have kids I I
would not say I have zero kids that
sounds kind of unnatural don’t say I
have zero kids say I don’t have kids
again
plural plural here I don’t have kids I
don’t have kids okay someone says I have
one kid good I have no kids oh good
Gustavo nice point I said I don’t have
kids what what did you write
I have no kids I have no kids that’s
also okay someone says I have one baby
she’s so cute oh okay um good Oh Jo you
said how do you say when you are the
second of five brothers you just said it
perfectly I’m the second of five
brothers that’s perfect nice good I
don’t have kids I don’t have any kids
perfect perfect everybody nicely done
okay then um let’s see what’s my next
point
next point then so we’ve talked about
kids numbers of kids is pretty easy to
do ah you can’t explain their ages if
you want to so some of you said I have
two kids or I have one kid you can say I
have you know two kids my daughter is -
my son is four so you can add some
information about your kids so I’ll put
that here somewhere I’m running out of
space here so plus age you can talk
about their age that’s the next natural
point to include I have two kids
my son is four my daughter is - okay
good nice one I have three kids
Oh someone wrote I have three kids or
children’s Damari wrote that please be
careful a singular plural point I said
children is okay yes but remember shape
children is the plural form so child is
an irregular noun so when we say one
child we use child for the singular
plural form is children so you can’t say
children’s that’s incorrect please use
one child two children
okay finally finally for this one let’s
move on to one more point to talk about
your family makeup that is this marital
status
marital status so this is more of an
intermediate or advanced vocabulary word
your marital status this is a formal way
of saying are you married or not so are
you married or not there’s a simple
answer to this I’m I’m married I’m
married so this don’t forget this I’m
that’s one two married I’m married not
I’m a marriage not I’m not married but
I’m married I’m married is the correct
expression here I’m married of course if
not I’m not married I’m not married if
you like if you are married I’m married
you can say like you can use some more
advanced grammar I’ve been married for
five years
oh my writing is messy I’ve been married
for five years for example you don’t
have to zoom in on that I think it’s
impossible to read
thanks I’ve been married for five years
you could say okay so this is how to
explain your marital status explaining
whether or not you are married we don’t
use this for it’s single or in a
relationship though marital status is
for married or not married okay good so
this is the first part for today’s
lesson how to talk about your family
makeup um
I’m checking for your questions
a PT or hi I’m YouTube says I am
unmarried unmarried is also okay nice
I’m unmarried
I’m unmarried good um I’m married and I
have two kids says Mena’s on Facebook
nice
Umar can we say me is married note we
cannot say me is married say I am I am
married I am married is the correct
sentence I am married Jeremy says I
never been married uh if you want to use
that eyes I have never been married I’m
out of space I’ve never been married I
have never been married okay
I have to stop there so we can go on
let’s take a break because I’ve been
talking forever so today’s topic is
family and relative so we have free
stuff for you guys as always today the
perfect PDF is our family and relatives
cheat sheet so this has lots of
vocabulary I’m not going to talk about
today but this we’re already talking
about like brothers younger and older
sisters younger older brothers and so on
but there are other family related words
here that you can find and we also have
some family and relative related
greeting words here so when you meet
your relatives after a long time or you
get together for parties and so on so
this is a great one a great free thing
to get this week so please check this
out you can download this for free the
link for this if you’re watching on
youtube is below the video knock the
chat box in the description below the
video if you’re watching on facebook
check the link above the video it should
be above the chat box if you’re watching
on full screen or just in your newsfeed
if you’re not watching full screen so
please go download this and all the
other stuff that we have maybe I’ll show
this a bit later okay let’s get back to
it someone says Alicia your stuff is so
cool yeah thanks okay it’s our team our
awesome team okay let’s go to the next
part if you’re just joining us today’s
topic is how to talk about your fan
how to talk about your family so we
began we started today’s lesson by
talking about your family make up your
family make up the people in your family
so part 2 for today is this this how to
talk about professions professions
profession means job so how do you
explain your family members job so maybe
you can explain your job like I’m a
teacher I’m a scientist for example but
how do you explain your family members
job I will introduce some patterns let’s
begin ok let’s get to it so I’m using
this keyword bracket
so I’m going to use this keyword
relative relative so relative means
person in your family relative my
relative is blah blah blah I’m going to
use this so in this part please use the
person in your family that you want to
talk about so my mom my dad my brother
my sister my younger brother my older
sister substitute the person in your
family right here okay so let’s begin my
relative is AA or an plus their job
title their job title so quick review I
talked about the difference between a
and an over here yeah so we use an
before a vowel sound uh before a
consonant sound so my relative like my
mom is a teacher for example my mom is a
teacher teacher my dad is an
engineer engineer so you could use
mother or father if you use mother or
father to talk about your parents it
will sound a little more polite it’s not
wrong so it’s fine to use that so my my
mom is a teacher for example I’m used up
because teacher begins with a consonant
sound a teacher here my dad is an
engineer I used an because engineer
starts with a vowel sound in okay so
this is one pattern you can use to
introduce their job title there their
job title okay
then I’ll check your comments nice my
brother is a veterinarian nice one mom
means mother mom means mother mother mom
is like the more commonly used word for
mother okay then let’s say you want to
explain the industry so this is a
keyword for this pattern industry
industry means like the type of company
the kind of company so let’s try an
example like again my relative my mom or
my dad my mother or father works here’s
the point works for up or n again this
article is acupoint for today’s lesson
industry company so let’s say for
example uh my brother let’s say my
brother works for an electrical company
electrical company so electrical so that
means like electricity related they make
electricity or supply electricity my
brother works for an electrical company
sorry an electrical company so points
here one this s right here so we need to
conjugate this verb my subject my
brother my brother is the subject he so
work the verb work takes an S it’s a
regular verb my brother works
for you could say at if you want to um
both are okay here my brother works for
an electrical company so we can talk
about the industry the type of company
where our relative works idle says my
mother works for an housewife okay a
couple points
my mother’s job title so if your
mother’s job is housewife you don’t need
to include works for works for is used
for a company a type of company if you
want to introduce the job title just use
this pattern so my mother is a housewife
housewife my mother is a housewife my
father is a farmer good my sister works
for a beer company nice don’t forget
your article my sister works for a beer
company their other ones my sister works
for a factory ok interesting what kind
of factory so introduce the kind of job
the kind of company my father works for
a mechanical company nice my sister
works for a telecommunication company
great ok good my mother is a housewife
perfect you fixed it nice one thanks
okay what’s the pronunciation architect
architect my father is an architect
that’s how you say architect alright
good
let’s go to the next pattern then please
but I’m my relative works for company so
this one it’s a little hard to see my
relative works for company this one is
like the easier version maybe of this so
here we have the same works for we could
use app as well but here we’re using the
company name the company name that means
it’s probably a famous company for
example my sister
works for Apple or my father works for
Google for example so if you want to
explain with the company name like it’s
a really famous company use that so my
father works for Google my father works
at Google ah great one George on YouTube
my father is retired
my father is retired is retired no
article there no article my father is
retired great one I’ll add that here my
relative great keywords my relative is
retired retired so this means finished
working finished working because like of
old age or maybe an injury sometimes so
my you can’t see that sorry my father my
relative is retired retired we use this
in sports as well
retired another person says my dad is
deceased yes you can say that my dad my
father my mother is deceased or has
passed away yes if you need to explain
that that is correct okay
other things my father uh ah my father
worked for a certain facts um sorry I
missed the comment on Facebook but if
you want to talk about a past job just
change your verb here so here I’m using
the present tense in all of these
examples if you want to talk about a
past job just use the past tense my
father worked for something thanks it’s
okay I caught the question I think okay
so my father worked for my mother worked
for so use the past tense there I’m
exaggerating worked for worked for okay
let’s move along to the last point for
this one we’re almost out of time let’s
go to the last one if your relative has
their own company their own company
you can use the verb run to run a
company means they take care of the
company they do everything for the
company like management accounting
hiring people they run a company so my
mother runs um what kind of company my
mother my mother runs an education
company or my father runs a tech company
for example so you can use the word run
to talk about managing the company he or
she runs a company ok good um I have to
go quickly I didn’t realize how much I
was talking today so let’s continue on
without a break to the last part for
today’s lesson the last part for today’s
lesson is residents so residents means
the place where you live the place where
you live or for today’s lesson the place
where your family member lives so this
is some review I think for you guys a
lot of you guys but we live in we live
in finish this sentence with your city
or your country we live in Sao Paulo we
live in Thailand we live in Mongolia we
live in Senegal you can use your si or
your country this we could mean your
family it could mean you and your
husband or wife you and your siblings
whatever we live in a police ok another
one my parents live in my parents live
in point here is this s as S sound my
parents live in so again my parents is
our subject they two people they live in
Montana or they live in Brazil so my
parents live in again a city or a
country here next one to review sorry
we’re going quickly because of time ok
my mom or my dad I want to introduce
these two because I know in some cases
family members move around like for
business trips for example how do you
express that so to talk about family
members who move you can use these
expressions for example my mom travels
between a and B so like my mom travels
between New York and London or my mom
travels between Beijing and Tokyo for
example you can use travels between so
again this s don’t forget this s my mom
travels between a and B another way to
say it is goes back and forth between
I’m sorry goes back and forth between
plays my mom goes back and forth between
place a and place B so you can use both
of these to talk about someone who
travels a lot okay good and then um last
almost left if you want to talk about a
single parent like my dad lives in and
my mom lives in like poor you know your
siblings you can do that just make sure
you include this s in lives he or she
lives in lives in a little grammar
review today finally whew finally if you
want to talk about your siblings we
talked about siblings at the beginning
of today’s lesson your sibling so my
youngest or my oldest brother or sister
or to talk about your children my
youngest or oldest son or daughter lives
in you can do that with this pattern
here so my youngest son lives in Osaka
for example or my daughter you don’t
have to include these like my daughter
lives in Tokyo for example so there are
lots of ways we can combine all of this
stuff
good how do you say when we don’t have a
job ah I’m unemployed unemployed that’s
a good one
so that relates over here professions
unemployed not employed not having a job
unemployed okay good one for you
sorry I had to finish quickly I took a
long time on the the first parts of this
lesson but that’s okay thanks for all
your great questions that was awesome um
my younger brother lives in Hokkaido oh
really I hope he was okay in there
Thanks okay um good I have to finish
there for today because I’m totally out
of time I talk too much as usual so if
you missed it
today’s lesson is about how to talk
about your family this lesson was
recorded so you can find it on our
YouTube channel in English class 101 or
on our Facebook page so check one of
those and also don’t forget to get your
free stuff this week I showed you this
family and relatives PDF that has family
related keywords should I go to this
camera yeah family related keywords and
things so this is just one example hello
this is one example of the free stuff
that you can find from the link below
the video on youtube or above the video
on Facebook but there are lots and lots
of other things you can find too
ah this might be important your pets I
didn’t talk about pets today but for
many people I know pets are a part of
the family so this is another PDF that’s
free you can find from the link below
the video on youtube above the video on
Facebook so definitely go download these
after the lesson or just pause the
lesson and go download
oh wait so check those out if you have
not already you can download you just
need an account on the website you can
make one for free if you don’t have one
okay but I have to finish there for
today how is a lot of talking thanks so
much for sending your questions and for
sending all of your example sentences
that was awesome that was really helpful
I have to finish but next week we will
be back as always same time same channel
next week September 26th the topic will
be how to talk about your hobbies how to
talk about your hobbies so like we did
today I’ll do some kind of grammar
review of these really small points and
try to help you guys talk more naturally
about the things you like to do so this
should be a fun lesson I think how to
talk about your hobbies
next Wednesday September 26 so please
join us again at 10 p.m. Eastern Oh
9 p.m. daylight savings time No 9:10
p.m. check facebook and check YouTube
push the notification button and I think
it should be 10:00 p.m. Eastern Standard
Time it usually is but if you’re not
sure check the Facebook page or check
the YouTube page there’s always like a
little waiting like kind of notification
you can get or just turn on
notifications for this live stream yay
so a few different strategies anyway
we’ll be back here at this time next
week so please join us in the meantime
please get your free stuff check the
YouTube channel for some other free
stuff that’s out there now too but I
will finish there so thank you so much
for joining us have a great day have a
great night enjoy your weekend and I
will see you again soon bye bye