Family and Friends Vocabulary

How do you talk about family and friends in English? It can be a little difficult sometimes. However, in this PPT I demystify the topic and teach appropriate and up-to-date vocabulary. This was made for my IELTS students but should work for younger kids as well. It includes information about adoption, remarrying, divorce, and death so maybe keep it away from the very young... This was taken from http://www.ted-ielts.com/family-friends-ielts

1. Family and Friends Essential IELTS Vocabulary

2. Family Going beyond the basics

3. The Basics

4. Extended Family

5. Doubling Vocabulary Be aware of variations on the same word: Granny = Grandmother (informal) (formal) Dad = Father (informal) (formal)

6. Complex Relationships Don’t just express the basic relationships. Think in terms of different relationship types: Step- family: Step-brother or step-sister Step-mother or step-father A step-relative is related legally but not biologically.

7. More Descriptive Marriage will make a family larger and also more difficult to describe. Spouse = a husband or wife In-laws = your spouse’s family Example: A: My mother-in-law is really annoying. She always criticizes me. B: That’s a shame. My in-laws are really nice. I play golf with my father-in-law all the time.

8. Getting Married You know “husband” and “wife.” But what about these? Fiancé = a man to whom a woman is engaged Fiancée = a woman to whom a man is engaged

9. Dealing with Divorce Not all marriages last forever. Divorced = when a marriage is ended Separated = when a couple is apart but the marriage is not legally ended Ex-wife/ Ex-husband = the former partner Example: My parents were separated for a year before they got divorced . She’s still friends were her ex-husband . Can you imagine that?!

10. Dealing with Death Sometimes a marriage doesn’t just end in divorce. Widow = a woman whose husband has died Widower = a man whose wife has died

11. More Vocabulary Only child = the one child in a family Nuclear family = a couple and their children Twins = two children born of the same birth Bachelor = an unmarried man Adoptee = a child who has been adopted

12. Friends Talking about your friends

13. New Words English is changing every day. We have some new but common words: BFF = “best friends forever” Bestie = short for “best friend” Example: Sarah and Carol are BFFs . I’m going to the cinema with my bestie tonight.

14. Friend as a Verb Another new development is “friend” becoming a verb. It means to add someone on social media . I friended her on Facebook last week. After the party, he was friended by 23 people he could barely remember.

15. Spending Time Together What do you do with your friends? If you just spend time together and do different things, you can use these expressions: Hang out Chill Example: At the weekend I like to hang out with my friends. We just chill at someone’s house and talk.