How to Talk about Family Members in English

Talking about family members in English is one of the topics that you are supposed to manage well.

It doesn’t matter where we go, family is a topic that most people usually bring up.

Talking about family members in English requires that you can:

#1Talk about the member of your family in general terms
#2Discuss their ages
#3Talk about what they do for a living

Now let’s check all the family members vocabulary you need to know to talk about this topic confidently



Family Members in English Vocabulary

If you want to talk about family members in English, we have to start somewhere and that’s with the basic vocabulary about family members.

Immediate Family Members

FatherMother
SonDaughter
Husband Wife
BrotherSister

Extended Family

Great great grandfatherGreat great grandmother
Great grandfatherGreat grandmother
GrandparentsGrandfather
GrandmotherGrandchildren
GrandsonGranddaughter
Great grandsonGreat granddaughter
AuntUncle
CousinsNephew
Niece

The In-Laws

Father-in-lawDaughter-in-law
Mother-in-lawBrother-in-law
Son-in-lawSister-in-law

New Family Members in English

StepfatherStepbrother
StepmotherStepsister
StepsonHalf-brother
StepdaughterHalf-sister

Other Family Members in English

GodfatherGodson
GodmotherGoddaughter

Sentences about Family Members in English

These are some sentences about family members in English

  • I have no siblings but I have a cousin
  • I am 30 years old, I am married and I have a daughter
  • My niece is Carla
  • She loves spending time with her son
  • My uncle George is the brother of my mother
  • Your daughter is my cousin
  • My grandfather is your uncle
  • My grandmother is from France
  • Your brother is my cousin
  • Your parents are my grandparents
  • Your sister is my stepmother
  • My father is your nephew
  • Your sisters are my aunts
  • Lili is the niece of my grandfather Julius

Reading about Family Members in English

My family consists of my dad, mum, one brother, one sister and myself. My mom is a teacher and my dad is a doctor. We all live in a big house in the city. My dad is 50 years old and  my mum is 46 years old.

My brother Daniel is a university student and he is 20 years old. Similarly,  my sister is a student at high school and she is 16 years old. I have one aunt and one uncle. I have two nephews and one niece.

Finally,  I am 19 years old and I am at college studying to be a mechanical engineer. We like to go out to the beach at the weekends. We also like camping during summer holidays.


Family Members Questions

These are common questions that you can ask about family members

  •  Do you have any brothers?
  • I have three brothers
  • How many sisters do you have?
  • I have three sisters
  • Who do you live with?
  • I live with my parents
  • Where does your mom work?
  • My mom works in a local hospital
  • What does your brother do?
  • My brother is a university student
  • Where does your mom live?
  • My mom lives near the gas station
  • Does she have any brothers?
  • I think that she has three brothers
  • What’s your mother’s name?
  • Her name is Silvia
  • Do you have brothers or sisters?
  • I am an only child

Family Members in English – Teaching Ideas

These are some lesson ideas when you wanna teach about family members

Presentation #1

I suggest starting this class by brainstorming how much students know about the topic or you can use this wordle and ask what words they know.

Family Members

Presentation #2

Another great teaching idea that you can use to introduce the topic is through a video, You can pause and ask your students to predict what word will be introduced next


Presentation #3

Another great teaching idea to introduce the topic is using a  Family Members Flashcard Set, you can project the information using a video beam or you can send the link to the students so they can practice the spelling and learn the pronunciation of the target vocabulary.


Production or Creative Practice

  1. Show students a picture of a family tree and ask them to make sentences about family relationships using that specific family tree.
  1. Ask students to create a conversation in which they talk about their family members.
  2. If you have cellphones, ask students to prepare a collage with pictures of their relatives so they can come to class and talk about their families.

Family Members – Games

You can also tell your students to make a bingo with the family members’ vocabulary.

Consider spending some money on some prizes to reward the winners.

If students have cell phones, consider using My Free Bingo Cards

family-relationships

More English Lessons

Thanks for reading my Family Members’ posts.

These are some lesson ideas that you might want to check out

  1. How to Describe Physical Appearance
  2. How to Give Advice in English
  3. How to Talk about Hobbies in English
  4. Likes and Dislikes at Work: Guide & Examples
  5. How to Give Directions in English
  6. How to Make Requests in English
  7. How to Make, Accept and Decline Invitations

Manuel Campos, English Professor

Manuel Campos

I am Jose Manuel, English professor and creator of EnglishPost.org, a blog whose mission is to share lessons for those who want to learn and improve their English