B. Study the following.
Relatives = members of your family
male | female | |
Your parents' parents | grandfather | grandmother |
Your parents' brother and sister | uncle(s) | aunt(s) |
Your aunt's/uncle's children | cousin(s) | cousin(s) |
The father and mother of the person you marry | father-in-law | mother-in-law |
The brother and sister of the person you marry | brother-in-law | sister-in-law |
Your brother's/sister's children | nephew(s) | niece(s) |
The person you marry dies, so you are a ... | widower | widow |
Your mother or father remarries, so you have a… | step-father | step- mother |
Family background = family history
My grandfather was a market gardener in Ireland. He grew flowers, fruit and vegetables, and sold them in the market every day. He worked hard all his life, and when he died, his son (now my uncle) and daughter (my mother) inherited a large house and garden (= received this house and garden from my grandfather when he died). They carried on the business together until my mother met my father. He wasthree yearsher senior. (She was 3 years junior to him). They got married, moved to England, and I was born two years later. They didn't have any more children, so I am an only child.
Family names
When you are born, your family gives you a first name, e.g. James, Kate. Sarah and Alex are common first names in Britain. Yourfamily name (also called your surname) is the one that all the family share e.g. Smith, Brown, Jones, and O'Neil are common surnames in Britain. Some parents give their children a middle name (like a first name), but you do not usually say this name. Your full name is all the names you have, e.g. Sarah Jane Smith.
Changing times
Society changes and so do families. In some places, people may decide to live together but do not get married. They are not husband and wife, but call each other their partner. There are also many families in some parts of the world where the child or children live(s) with just their mother or father; these are sometimes tailed single-parent families.
Friends
We can use a number of adjectives before friend:
an old friend (= someone you have known for a long time)
a closefriend (= a good friend; someone you like and trust)
your best friend (= the one friend you feel closest to)
We use the word colleagues to describe the people we work with.
Ex-
We use this for a husband/wife/boуfriend/girlfriend we bid in the past but do not have now: The children stay with my ex-husband at the weekend. I saw an ex-girlfriend of mine at the disco last night.