English: Family Members

Level: A1. Talking about your family is one of the first things people ask you to do. A small set of words — plus a simple way to say whose someone is — lets you describe everyone from your parents to your cousins.

By the end of this page you can…

…name the people in a family, use the casual and formal versions of each word, and say who belongs to whom with possessives like my, her and Tom’s.

The family words

English family words split into a few natural groups. Learn them in groups, not as one long list.

Parents and children are the core of most families. Your mother and father are your parents; their children are their son (a boy) and daughter (a girl). A very young child is a baby.

Brothers and sisters share the same parents. A brother is male, a sister is female, and the general word for both is sibling. English does not have a special word for “older brother” or “younger sister” — you simply add older or younger if it matters: my older sister.

Grandparents are your parents’ parents: your grandmother and grandfather, together your grandparents. Their children’s children are their grandchildren (a grandson or granddaughter).

The wider family is the people around that core. Your parent’s sister is your aunt; your parent’s brother is your uncle; their children are your cousins. If you have children, your sister’s or brother’s children are your niece (female) and nephew (male). A married couple are husband (male) and wife (female).

Everyday and formal versions

Many family words have a warm, informal version you will hear far more often at home.

Formal word	Everyday word
mother	mum (British) / mom (American)
father	dad
grandmother	grandma / granny
grandfather	grandpa / grandad
children	kids

Saying who belongs to whom

To link a person to their family, English uses two tools.

Apostrophe-s goes on a name or noun to mean belonging to: Tom’s sister, my brother’s wife, the baby’s mother. Read it as “the sister of Tom”.

Possessive adjectives go straight in front of the family word: my, your, his, her, our, their. You choose the word by who the owner is, not by the family member: a man says my sister; about that man you say his sister.

my → belongs to me
your → belongs to you
his → belongs to him · her → belongs to her
our → belongs to us · their → belongs to them

Example sentences

Play each line and say it along with the audio.

This is my mother.

Introducing your mum.
My father works in a hospital.

Talking about your dad's job.
I have one brother and two sisters.

Saying how many siblings you have.
She is my older sister.

Add 'older' when the age matters.
Tom's sister is a teacher.

Apostrophe-s shows the sister belongs to Tom.
My grandparents live in the countryside.

Both grandmother and grandfather together.
Our grandmother tells wonderful stories.

'Our' means she belongs to us.
His grandfather is ninety years old.

'His' follows the owner — a boy or man.
They have two children, a son and a daughter.

A boy is a son, a girl is a daughter.
The baby is my brother's daughter.

So the baby is my niece.
My aunt and uncle live next door.

A parent's sister and brother.
We are cousins.

Our parents are brothers or sisters.
Her husband cooks every evening.

A wife talks about her husband.
My wife and I have three kids.

'Kids' is the casual word for children.
Is this your family photo?

Asking about someone's family picture.
My parents' house is near the river.

Plural owners take the apostrophe after the -s.
My little nephew loves football.

A nephew is a brother's or sister's son.
How many people are there in your family?

A common question about family size.
I look like my mum.

Talking about family resemblance.
My grandparents have six grandchildren.

Their children's children.

Recap card for the English family members lesson with mother, father, sister, brother and possessives

Quick recap before you practise.

How to say it

A few of these words trip up learners — copy the sounds, not the spelling.

mother, father, brother all share the soft, voiced th (as in this): tongue lightly between the teeth, not “muvver” or “mudder”.
daughter has a silent gh: say “DAW-ter”.
cousin sounds like “KUH-zun” — the ou is a short u, not “koo”.
aunt has two standard pronunciations: “ahnt” (common in Britain) and “ant” (common in America). Both are correct.

Practice

Family members practice

Try each one, then press Check. No sign-up, nothing is sent anywhere — it all runs in your browser.

1 Match each person to who they are.

your mother's mother Match for your mother's mother
your parent's brother Match for your parent's brother
your aunt's child Match for your aunt's child
your brother's son Match for your brother's son

Show answer

your mother's mother → grandmother
your parent's brother → uncle
your aunt's child → cousin
your brother's son → nephew

Each relative is defined by their link to you through your parents or siblings.

2 A girl talks about the father she belongs to: '____ father is a doctor.' (she is the owner)

Hint: the owner is female

Show answer

Her — The owner is a girl, so use 'her': her father.

3 Use apostrophe-s: The sister of Tom is '____ sister.'

Hint: add apostrophe-s to the name

Show answer

Tom's — Apostrophe-s on the name shows belonging: Tom's sister.

4 Which word is the everyday version of 'mother'? aunt mum niece wife

Show answer

mum — 'Mum' (British) or 'mom' (American) is the casual word for mother.

5 Your parent's sister is your… cousin niece aunt grandmother

Show answer

aunt — A parent's sister is your aunt; her children are your cousins.

6 Put the words in order.

Show answer

This is my brother — The possessive 'my' comes before the family word: This is my brother.

Quiz

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English: Family Members

By the end of this page you can…

The family words

Everyday and formal versions

Saying who belongs to whom

Example sentences

How to say it

Practice

Family members practice

Quiz

Family members quiz

Next

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