Family Vocabulary

Your family members are also called your relatives. You have an immediate or nuclear family and an extended family. Your immediate family includes your father, mother and siblings. Your extended family includes all of the people in your father and mother's families.

Your sibling is your brother or sister. If you have 1 brother and 2 sisters, then you have 3 siblings. Your parent is your father or mother. Your child is your son or daughter. Your spouse is your husband or wife.

You may also have a stepfamily. Your stepfamily includes people who became part of your family due to changes in family life. These changes may include death, divorce or separation. New partnerships create new children. The new children and their relatives become part of your blended family. Some people are born into a stepfamily.

Note that spouses and step-relatives are relatives by marriage. They are not blood relatives. Your father and mother are related by marriage. But your father and you are related by blood.

my relatives		relationship to me	I usually call
male	female	relationship to me	him...	her...
parent		relative of whom I am the child	Father, Daddy, Dad, Papa	Mother, Mummy, Mum, Mommy, Mom, Mama, Ma
father	mother	relative of whom I am the child	Father, Daddy, Dad, Papa	Mother, Mummy, Mum, Mommy, Mom, Mama, Ma
sibling		we have the same father and mother	first name; sometimes Bro	first name; sometimes Sis
brother	sister	we have the same father and mother	first name; sometimes Bro	first name; sometimes Sis
uncle	aunt	sibling of my parent	Uncle [first name]	Aunt/Auntie [first name]
grandparent		parent of my parent	Grandfather, Grandpa	Grandmother, Grandma
grand-father	grand-mother	parent of my parent	Grandfather, Grandpa	Grandmother, Grandma
cousin		child of my uncle or aunt	first name
spouse		relative to whom I am married	first name
husband	wife	relative to whom I am married	first name
child		relative of whom I am the parent	first name
son	daughter	relative of whom I am the parent	first name
nephew	niece	child of my sibling	first name
grandchild		child of my child	first name
grandson	grand-daughter	child of my child	first name
great grand-father	great grand-mother	parent of my grandparent	Great Grandpa	Great Grandma
father-in-law	mother in-law	parent of my spouse	first name; Dad	first name; Mum, Mom
brother-in-law	sister in-law	sibling of my spouse; spouse of my sibling	first name
son-in-law	daughter-in-law	spouse of my daughter/son	first name
ex-husband	ex-wife	my previous spouse (we divorced)	first name
half-brother	half-sister	my sibling born to my father or mother but not both	first name
step-parent		new spouse of one of my parents	first name
step-father	step-mother	new spouse of one of my parents	first name
step-child		child of my spouse but not of me	first name
step-son	step-daughter	child of my spouse but not of me	first name

In a family, the word generation means all the people in one stage of the family. For example, your parents are one generation, you and your siblings are the next generation, and your children and their cousins are another generation.