Talking About Your Family  

How to talk about your family in English

Immediate vs extended family:

Immediate family: Parents, children, brothers/sisters, wife/husband.

Extended family:Grandparents, grandchildren uncles and aunts, nieces and nephews, cousins.

If your parents are not married anymore, and they have remarried other people, these people are your stepmom or stepdad. Your stepmom/stepdads children are you stepbrothers or stepsisters.

Explaining how many people are in your family:

There are ___ people in my immediate family.

I come from a largehousehold.(There was many people who lived in my house growing up).

Example question: How big is your family?

 “I come from a very large household. There are 6 people in my immediate family. My dad, stepmom, two sisters, one stepsister, and me. My extended family is huge. I have four uncles and four aunts, ten cousins, and two grandparents.”

Some common expressions when talking about similarities within your family:

Like father, like son.– When a father and son share some similarities.

The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree– When a child shares a similar quality to his or her parents.

To run in the family– Some quality, behavior, or skill that is shared by family members.

Black sheep– Someone who is odd or unlike other family members or has behavior that the rest of the family disapproves of.

Example question: Is your family very similar to each other, or different?

“My family and I share many similarities. My sisters, my dad, and I are very similar. We laugh at all the same jokes and we are all very interested in business. I guess our interests and humor runs in the family. People sometimes say that I look like my dad when I he was young. My dad always responds by saying: the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”

Common expressions when talking about your families’ relationship with each other:

To get along with– Each person in the family likes/works well with, and has a good relationship

One big happy family– A group of people (often a family) get along and work well with each other. Often used sarcastically.

To have a falling out– To have a disagreement or argument that ruins the relationship

Bad blood– There is anger or hate towards each other due to something that happened in the past

Example question: Does your family get along with each other?

“My family and I have a very good relationship. However, my mom and my uncle had a falling out last Christmas. Now there is bad blood between them, and they are not talking to each other.”