There is sometimes more than one word for certain members of the family:
| Mum
Dad Grandma Granpa |
Mummy
Daddy Granny Granddy |
Mother
Father Grandmother Grandfather |
EXERCISE 1
Can you group these words according to sex, i.e. words for males and words for females?
sister husband cousin wife mother son
brother father grandson daughter aunt
grandmother nephew uncle grandfather niece granddaughter
| Male relatives | Female relatives |
EXERCISE 2
Complete these sentences with words from the box in the previous exercise:
1. My mum is married to my___________.
2. His aunt is married to his ___________.
3. Their grandmother is married to their ___________.
4. A husband has a ___________.
5. My mum’ s sister is my ___________.
6. My uncle’s child is my ___________.
7. Grandma and___________live by the sea.
8. Your uncle is your aunt’s ___________.
9. He is my grandfather. I am his ___________.
10. My mum’s sister has a daughter. This girl is my mum’s ___________.
EXERCISE 3
There are two diagrams below. The first one is Helen’s family tree. Helen is Susan’s mother. The second one is the same family tree, from Susan’s viewpoint. Look at them carefully and then use the words in the boxes to complete the blanks in the sentences that follow them.
children sister husband nephew brother-in-law
1. My name is Helen. My ___________’s name is Thomas.
2. Thomas and I have three ___________.
3. I have a ___________called Betty, and Andrew is my ___________.
4. I have a ___________called George.
uncle grandchildren son brother parents
1. My name is Susan. Thomas and Helen are my___________.
2. My grandparents have four ___________.
3. My aunt’s name is Elizabeth, My ___________ ‘s name is Andrew.
4. My aunt has only one ___________.
5. I have one sister and one ___________.
EXERCISE 4
Here are the plural forms of some words connected with people and the family. Can you write the singular forms in the boxes?
| singular | ||||||
| plural | children | people | men | women | families | wives |
EXERCISE 5
This is a letter from David, Susan’s brother, to a penfriend. Fill in the blanks according to the family tree on the previous page.
3, Windmill Way,
Frumton.
23rd November
Dear Alex,
How are you? I’m writing to tell you about myself and my family.
There are ________ people in my family. I’ve got ________ brother(s) and ________ sister(s).
His/Her/Their name(s) are _________ and ________.
My mother’s name is ________ and my father’s name is ________. I’ve got _______ aunt(s) and _________ uncle(s) and _________ cousin(s).
I hope you’ll write and tell me about your family.
Best wishes,
David
How many people are there in your family?
What are their names?
Write a letter to a penfriend like the one from David to Alex.
EXERCISE 6
Choose the correct word from each pair and underline it:
When I was younger I always had a big party for my birthday. All my family / families came to celebrate the big day. There were lots of people / person, lots of food and presents for me, too! The child / children always played games and made a lot of noise. The women / woman usually had a good time, too, eating and dancing until late into the evening, while the man / men drank beer and sat together, watching the fun.