Me, Friends and Family: My Family

Me, Friends and Family: My Family

My Family

Talking about your Family Members

  • Use Mein Vater/Mutter/Bruder/Schwester heißt… (My father/mother/brother/sister is called…) to introduce each family member.
  • Use the phrase Ich habe… Geschwister (I have… siblings).
  • jünger is the word for younger and älter for older. So you can say Mein Bruder ist älter (My brother is older) or Meine Schwester ist jünger (My sister is younger).
  • das einzige Kind is used to state you are an only child.

Describing your Family Members

  • Let’s not forget useful adjectives like nett (nice), freundlich (friendly), streng (strict), klug (clever), dumm (stupid), witzig (funny).
  • Use mein… ist… (my… is…) to start a sentence for describing your family members, e.g. Meine Mutter ist freundlich (My mother is friendly).
  • haben (have) and sein (be) are two important verbs. Mein Bruder hat blaue Augen (My brother has blue eyes), Meine Schwester ist groß (My sister is tall).

Discussing Likes and Dislikes

  • Talk about likes and dislikes using mögen (like), lieben (love), hassen (hate). For instance, Mein Vater mag Fußball (My father likes football), Meine Mutter liebt Kochen (My mother loves cooking), Mein Bruder hasst Hausarbeit (My brother hates housework).

Relationships within the Family

  • Useful phrases are: Wir kommen gut miteinander aus (We get on well with each other), Wir streiten oft (We often argue), Wir haben viel gemeinsam (We have a lot in common).
  • Adjectives used to describe relationships may be eng (close), abgesondert (distant), zusammenhaltend (supportive), konfliktreich (conflict-ridden).

Family Routines and Chores

  • You might say Ich muss die Küche aufräumen (I must tidy up the kitchen), Ich muss den Rasen mähen (I must mow the lawn).
  • Mein Vater kocht das Abendessen (My father cooks dinner).
  • Meine Mutter fährt mich zur Schule (My mother drives me to school).

Remember the key phrases and make sure you have a list of adjectives at your disposal to give detailed and varied descriptions or comments. Practice forming sentences and applying the vocabulary in different contexts.