- The nuclear family consists of only the parents and their children.
- The extended family is formed by parents, children, uncles and aunts, grandparents, etc.
- In a one-parent or single-parent family there is only one parent living with the chidren, either because they are divorced or because they have decided to raise their children single-handedly.
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| Nuclear family | Extended family | single-parent family |
Let's see the most common family words in English in the following presentation:
Other words related to the family:
- A relative is someone who belongs to your family. Relatives can either be close or distant: She inherited the money from a distant relative she had never met.
- Relation is another way to say "relative", especially in spoken English. A blood relation is someone who is related to you by birth, not by marriage.
- Your next of kin is your closest relative: My brother is listed as my next of kin on all my emergency forms.
- Kinsman is an old-fashioned word to say "relative", but also, by extension, a person of the same nationality or ethnic group: She may marry her late husband's brother or some other kinsman of his.
- Ancestors or forefathers (notice that you cannot say foreparents) are the people from whom you are descended.
- Descendants are the relatives of a person or group of people who are born many years after them: He claims to be a direct descendant of Napoleon.
- Folks (usually plural) is an informal word meaning your family, especially your parents: I'll go home this Christmas to see my folks.
There are many idioms related to the family. Let's see a few of them in the following presentation:
You can see more family idioms in the BBC World Service page.
Exercises:
- Play hangman with the descriptions of members of the family.
- Family tree exercise.
- Family idioms exercise.
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| That's all folks! Image |
