Still Having problems in NB2 with family? ( family vocabulary, I mean) perhaps this will help.Note :99% is politically incorrect because it's either traditional &/or Christian &/or Gender-linked or EVEN all three!

Don't worry! Even NA students make occasional mistakes with family vocabulary. But you should know the basics!    


Here is Cindrella's  family problem : Her  Mother died. Her father married again: Her ........?..-mother.
The good woman already had two daughters: Cinderella's ............?-sisters. (check below)

Warm up with the basic unit :

Family Vocabulary: All  these words are for a family RELATIONSHIP

ALL THESE PEOPLE ARE YOUR RELATIONS OR RELATIVES

FAMILIAR is   a FALSE FRIEND
The first nine +  words are the most important

Male	female	generic	Spanish
father  , or diminutives such as Paw,Pa, Dad, Daddy, etc	mother  or diminutives such as Ma, Mum, Mummy, etc	parent	padre
son	daughter	child * or Kid	hijo/a/os/as
brother	sister	sibling**	hermano/a etc
-	-	cousin	primo/a etc
uncle	aunt	- say uncle and aunt, uncles and aunts, etc
nephew	niece	- similar to above	sobrino/a
* 1 child, plural children  *2  remember also: male : boy	girl	child or kid	niño/nene, etc
** sibling,  officially out of fashion  but has come back again recently

Difficulty: your brain looks for an individual equivalent for yerno, suegro, padrino, etc
BUT  ENGLISH DOES IT ALL WITH AFFIXES

Use those  first nine etc  words with the following affixes

Prefixes:

 Gran(d)- for 2 lineal generations:

los abuelos: grandparents, a grandparent, grandmother, grandfather, grandfathers, granpa, granma, etc etc  

los nietos: grandchild, grandchildren, grandson, grandsons   grandaughter, grandaughters, etcetc

Step-  for relationships deriving from remarriage.= the Spanish suffix-astro/a Think of cinderella! 

God-  for relationships deriving from baptism. Think of Al Pacino!
Half-  same as in Spanish

Suffix 
-inlaw mother inlaw, brotherinlaw, soninlaw etc etc
for relationships from marriage, like the Spanish adjective politico
Difficulty: your brain looks for an individual equivalent for yerno, suegro, etc

Stages of standard  Relationships between  a man and a woman

Stage	Male	female	generic	Group ( very rarely , pair =couple)
Married	Husband	Wife	Spouse, "better half"= 1/2 naran	A married couple
For many centuries, couples just “living together”	Common-law husband	Common-law wife		A ( commonlaw) married couple
Wedding-day and honeymoon only	Groom or bridegroom	bride		A Newly-wed couple, a just married couple, “newly-weds” “just-marrieds”
Formally engaged , but single	Fiancé	Fiancé or fiancée	?fiance?	An engaged couple. Cf to be engaged
Going steady/ going out together/ dating? , but single	(+or - steady) boy-friend	(+or - steady) girl-friend	My/etc steady	A (?) couple Once: a courting couple NB "boy and girl " talk in relationships now covers people 90 or 100 years old. A genertion ago, husband and wife could be old man or old woman at 18!
First( ‘) date(s), between single people			My/etc date	A couple on a date (?) cf a blind date, double-dating(2 couples) etc
Other words :
Picking-up, chatting up			A pick-up * be careful= casual tabu, offensive	Cf to pick up, to chat up, many other more tabu synonyms
Irregular and extramarital liasons	Toyboy , gigolo	Very old fashioned: Mistress,  kept woman
			Lover	At any moment or condition, as in Spanish “amante”, the relationship will be physical or not depending on the context
Self-explanatory:			A one-night-stand
Politically correct : Anthing modern &/or  , indefinite and /or indescribable			Partner	This covers, say  5 men+ 3 women+ + 3 indefinables+ a gorilla .They’re all partners!

NOW Watch this video, several times or click:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdFPDjtX2Q4

Exercise: fill in then click above link 

I 'm My Own ……..  It sounds funny, I know, But it really is so, Oh, I'm my own …………….I'm my own ....... (x2)

Now many, many years ago, when I was twenty-three, I was married to a ……………….who was pretty as could be.

This ………………..had a grown-up …………………who had hair of red. 

My……………….. fell in love with her, and soon they, too, were wed.

This made my …………….my ………………….and changed my very life, 

My ………………..was my………………., cause she was my ………………s wife.

To complicate the matter, even though it brought me joy, I soon became the …………………….of a bouncing baby boy.

My little baby then became a …………………….to………….., 

And so became my……………….., though it made me very sad.

For if he was my………………., then that also made him ………………

Of the …………………….s grown-up…………………., who, of course, was my. …………………..

………………..'s wife then had a …………….who kept him on the run, And he became my……………………, for he was my ………………..'s son.

My………………. is now my……………….. s…………….., and it makes me blue, 

Because, although she is my…………….., she's my………………………., too.

Now if my …………is my………………., then I'm her …………………………..

And everytime I think of it, it nearly drives me wild,

For now I have become the strangest case you ever saw As ………………….of my………………….., I am my own……………………!

I'm my own…………(x2)It sounds funny, I know, but it really is so, Oh, I'm my own ………………………

Put in:Grandpa widow father uncle Dad son daughter husband wife mother' grandmother grandchild, stepmother brother-in-law brother son-in-law

You also need this vocab: widow, = viuda; to wed, wed/wedded, wed/wedded = to marry=to get married, cf  a wedding=una boda;  wild=savage, not domesticated, in a natural state; idiom: a bouncing baby boy, to bounce = rebotar, like a ball;  idiom to keep s.o. on the run, = to keep them very busy, leave them no time; Note Dad=Father=Pa=Paw

Recognize all the family words, repeat them to yourself