How do you call your relations? Table of family relationships in English!

Family Relationship table in English.

Basic words

father – somebody’s male parent

mother – somebody’s female parent

parent – somebody’s father or mother

son – somebody’s male child

daughter – somebody’s female child

husband – the man who a woman is married to

wife – the woman who a man is married to

spouse – somebody married to another person; husband or wife

brother – a boy or man who has the same parents as another person

sister – a girl or woman who has the same parents as another person

sibling – a brother or sister

elder brother/sister – a brother/sister who is older than you

younger brother/sister – brother/sister who is younger than you

grandfather – somebody’s parent’s father

grandmother – somebody’s parent’s mother

grandparent – somebody’s parent’s parent

great grandfather – a father of your grandparent

great grandmother – a mother of your grandparent

grandson – somebody’s son’s or daughter’s son

granddaughter – somebody’s son’s or daughter’s daughter

grandchild – somebody’s son’s or daughter’s child

uncle – somebody’s mother’s or father’s brother; your aunt’s husband

aunt – somebody’s mother’s or father’s sister; your uncle’s wife

nephew – somebody’s brother’s or sister’s son; your husband’s or wife’s brother’s or sister’s son

niece – somebody’s brother’s or sister’s daughter; your husband’s or wife’s brother’s or sister’s daughter

cousin – somebody’s parent’s brother’s or sister’s child; somebody’s aunt’s or uncle’s child

stepfather – your mother’s husband (not your real father)

stepmother – your father’s wife (not your real mother)

stepbrother – your stepfather’s or stepmother’s son (at least one of your parents is different)

stepsister – your stepfather’s or stepmother’s daughter (at least one of your parents is different)

stepson – your spouse’s son (from an earlier marriage)

stepdaughter – your spouse’s daughter (from an earlier marriage)

father-in-law – your spouse’s father

mother-in-law – your spouse’s mother

brother-in-law – your spouse’s brother

sister-in-law – your spouse’s sister

son-in-law – your daughter’s husband

daughter-in-law – your son’s wife

boyfriend – a boy or man that a girl or woman goes out with

girlfriend – a girl or woman that a boy or man goes out with

widow – a woman whose husband has died

widower – a man whose wife has died

bachelor – a man who has never been married

spinster – a woman who has never been married

single – a person who isn’t married and doesn’t have a boyfriend/girlfriend


Words and Phrases with Examples

1. baby – a very young child

- I always do some housework when the baby is sleeping in the afternoon.

2. infant – a baby or very young child, newborn child
- My sister is 14 years old, but sometimes she acts like an infant.

3. toddler – a young child who has just learnt to walk

- Toddlers can walk, but they don’t always talk yet.

4. marriage – legal relationship between a husband and wife

- She only has a stepdaughter from her husband’s first marriage, but she likes her as her own.

5. marry (sb), get married to sb – become somebody’s husband or wife

- My father was 29 and my mother was 25 when they got married.

6. go out (with sb) – spend time with somebody and have a romantic or sexual relationship with them

- My parents had been going out for two years before they got married.

- My mother doesn’t like that I go out with Tom; she says he’s too old for me.

7. get engaged – agree to marry somebody

- Imagine, my sister has just got engaged to a footballer, they’re planning to get married in the summer.

8. wedding – the act of marrying, a marriage ceremony (and the meal or party that usually follows it)

9. bride – a woman on her wedding day, or just before or just after it

10. (bride)groom – a man on his wedding day, or just before or just after it

- The prince’s wedding ceremony will take place in the cathedral. Then the bride and the groom will be taken to the wedding reception in an open Rolls Royce.

11. honeymoon – a holiday taken by a couple who have just got married

- We couldn’t go to the Bahamas on honeymoon, but we felt sitting on the top of the world even in a campsite at the local lake.

12. divorce – the legal ending of a marriage; end your marriage legally

- Unfortunately, very many marriages end in a divorce in our country.

- She divorced her husband immediately when she learned he had a secret girlfriend.

- My friend and his wife got divorced at last, after long years of quarrel and disagreement.

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How to improve your email writing skills with basic tips

Email Writing Skills

You may be writing personal or business mails, please remember the following basic common points to be followed while writing mails.

1) Subject Line

2) Say Hello

3) Be very careful of capital letters, punctuation, spelling and basic grammar

4)Think of who your reader is going to be 

5)The reader will also accept bad grammar in informal emails

6)Think about how direct or indirect you want to be

7)Be positive!

8)Get feedback

9)Short and Simple Sentences

10)Put your message in context

11)Focus on what they need to know

12)Use a well designed signature

1) Subject Line


This is the most important part of the e-mail. When people first check their new messages, this is what they see listed – and this is the information they have to use to decide whether your e-mail is either important or urgent.

Make sure you put a concise description of your message content here. If possible, write it in a way that means they don’t necessarily have to open the message to know what it is about.

e.g. Weekly Team Meeting moved to 3.30pm next week

2) Say Hello

3) Be very careful of capital letters, punctuation, spelling and basic grammar

While these can be tolerated in informal emails, they are very important in business emails as they are an important part of the image you create. Give yourself time to edit what you’ve written before you push that Send button. In today’s busy world, it’s very easy to send out many emails without checking them so make a conscious effort to edit.

4) Think of who your reader is going to be

Is it a colleague, a client or your boss? Should the email be informal or formal? Most Business Emails these days have a neutral tone. Note the difference between Informal and Formal:

Informal – Thanks for the email of 15 February
Formal – Thank you for your email received 15 February

Informal – Sorry, I can’t make it.
Formal – I am afraid I will not be able to attend

Informal – Could you…?
Formal – I was wondering if you could….?

Some emails to colleagues can be informal if they are friends. This is the style that is closest to speech, so there are often everyday words and conversational expressions that can be used. For instance, ‘Don’t forget’, ‘Catch you later’, ‘Cheers’.

5) The reader will also accept bad grammar in informal emails.

However, if the email is going to a client or senior colleague, bad grammar and an over-friendly style will not be acceptable.

6) Think about how direct or indirect you want to be

In some cultures it is common practice to be very direct in email correspondence. However, this can cause a problem if you’re writing to someone in another country and in a language that is not yours. They might find your directness rude and sometimes offensive.

Consider these:

Direct – I need this in half an hour.
Indirect and polite – Would it be possible to have this in half an hour?

Direct – There will be a delay
Indirect – I’m afraid there will be a slight delay.

Direct – It’s a bad idea
Indirect – To be honest, I’m not sure it would be a good idea.

By adjusting your tone, you are more likely to get a more positive response from your reader.

7) Be positive!

Look at these words: helpful, good question, agreed, together, useful, I’d be delighted, mutual, opportunity.

Now look at these: busy, crisis, failure, forget it, I can’t, it’s impossible, waste, hard

The words you use show your attitude to life so choose your words wisely.

8) Get feedback

Try and get some feedback on the emails that you write in real life. This could be from your English Teacher or someone you know whose English is better than yours.

Study the English in the emails you receive. If it is a well-written email, look carefully at some of the language used. Start your own phrase book and build a bank of phrases from the ones you receive and think would be useful in the future.

9) Short and Simple Sentences

Use short and easy sentences. Long sentences can often be difficult to read and understand. The most common mistake that I see my students making is to translate directly from their own language. This can often lead to confusing sentences. I always tell my students to use the KISS Test – Keep It Short and Simple

10) Put your message in context

Don’t expect the person you are sending the message to to remember all your previous conversations. If you’re not replying to an e-mail that they sent you, you need to make it clear what you are talking about. Use the first line to add some background information.

e.g. You may remember I spoke to you last week about the issues we were having with George’s schedule….

11) Focus on what they need to know

Don’t give any more information than they need to know to make a decision. Their first decision will be “do I need to deal with this now?” so it helps to give an indication of urgency or importance. However, avoid using the words “important” or “urgent” – as these are actually pretty meaningless on their own. If there is a deadline involved, just state the date/time they need to act by. If it is important, state the consequences of inaction.

You can use layered complexity here to keep the message short – just give them what you think they need, and offer a phone call or follow up message if this isn’t what they were after. This saves you time writing paragraphs and paragraphs covering the options in detail.

e.g. We have several of them available – our blue model costs £452.99. We have twenty available – if you want a quote on another colour, let me know which one, and I can give you more details. Alternatively, I’m in the office all afternoon if you want to give me a call to discuss.

12) Use a well designed signature

Most people spend a couple of minutes setting up their e-mail signature, then never change it again. Since your signature goes out on every e-mail you send, you can use it to offer some very useful information, including:

• When you check your messages (e.g. I check my e-mails every weekday at 10am and 3:30pm). This stops them getting annoyed when you don’t respond in three minutes.
• If you’re going to be unavailable shortly – add red text to draw their attention (e.g. Vacation: I’ll be on vacation from the 6th-19th June. Please call Mary on xxxx during this time.)
• Changes to your contact details. (e.g. Telephone Change: My new mobile number is xxxxxxxxxxx)

Don’t go overboard on this and have a 30-line signature covering all possible things they might want to know. If you think you will need more than seven lines, consider setting up a webpage somewhere with a personal FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) that you can refer them to. In your signature, just put your phone number, the URL to your page, along with any news items listed above.


Courtesy Source: http://www.myenglishteacher.eu, http://www.infogineering.net

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A simple difference between I have to and I want to - Inspiring Example

For many years in every morning at 10 o’clock sharp, a business woman had visited her mother in a nursing home. They were very close and she loved her very much. Sometimes she had business meetings in that time of day (10 o’clock) and her answer was always the same: “I can not, I have to visit my mother.”


Then her mother died. Shortly afterward, someone had asked the woman for a meeting at 10 o’clock. Suddenly realized that she could no longer visit her mother. And her next thought was: “Oh, if I could visit my mother once again.” From that moment I have to became I want to.

Pleasant things in life are the ones we want to do. “Today I want to go to theater” or “I want to go on vacation next week.” Things that are burdening us are the ones that need to be done. “Tomorrow I have to wake up at 6:30 to go to work” or “I have to clean up the house.”

Because perceptions hinder our thoughts and actions, try replacing I have to with I want to. Instead of saying “I have to go to work“, think of those that don’t have a job and you can say with enthusiasm “Tomorrow I want to go to work.” Instead of saying “I have to clean up“, think about how your home looks when it’s clean and then you can easily say “I want to clean up.” In time it will be easier to use I want to.

It’s amazing what a change of attitude occurs simply because of using words that do not involve constraint or obligation. You will see that by using this exercise  things that need to be done will become more simple and easy.

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