Immediate Family
This post teaches basic English vocabulary for describing our closest family members. Lots of examples and images!
English Vocabulary - Immediate Family
One of the most important topics in any language is family. This post will discuss vocabulary we use to talk about your immediate family. Immediate means very close in this situation. In a future post, we will talk about your bigger extended family.
Parents
First, let’s talk about parents. Parents are the people who take care of us when we are babies. A parent who is a man is called your father. A parent who is a woman is called a mother. Some families have a mother and a father. Some families only have one father or one mother. And some families have two mothers or two fathers.
A more familiar word for father is dad. Children might say daddy. A more familiar word for mother is mom. Children sometimes say mommy.
Grandparents
Your parents’ parents are called your grandparents. Your father’s mother or your mother’s mother is called your grandmother. Your father’s father or your mother’s father is called your grandfather.
Most people have two parents and four grandparents.
Siblings
If your parents have more than one child, then you have siblings! A male sibling is called your brother. A female sibling is called your sister. If you have no siblings, then you are an only child.
In English, we cannot use the word brothers to talk about siblings of both sexes. We say siblings or brothers and sisters. You can ask someone these questions:
Do you have any brothers and sisters?
How many brothers and sisters do you have?
Do you have any siblings?
How many siblings do you have?
You can answer like this:
I have 2 brothers and 2 sisters.
I have 4 siblings.
Notice that we generally use the simple present when talking about family members.
Spouses and Partners
If you get married or live with a boyfriend or girlfriend, this person can be part of your immediate family, too.
If you are married to a woman, this person is called your wife. If you are married to a man, this person is called your husband. If you don’t want to mention gender, you can say spouse or partner:
All the employees and their partners are invited to joing us for dinner.
My wife is pregnant. We’re having twins.
If you are not married, but are dating someone, you can use the word boyfriend for a man, or girlfriend for a woman. It is okay to use these words when you are an adult, but some people think that the words boy and girl in them sound immature, so they prefer partner.
If you need a general word that includes husbands, wives, boyfriends, and girlfriends, then partner or significant other is the best word to use.
More Free English Vocabulary Resources
Parts of a Laptop
English Vocabulary - Parts of a Laptop
Today lets learn English words to talk about parts of a laptop. As you may know, a laptop is a computer you can close like a book and take with you. Larger computers that you cannot take with you are called desktops, because they sit on top of a desk. A laptop sits on top of your lap (your lap is the upper part of your legs, which is horizontal when you sit!
The part of the laptop that you look at is called the display. Display is also a verb: your computer displays pictures, videos, and websites. Some people call this a screen, too. Screen is a more general word—your TV has a screen, there is a screen at the movies—but display is better for computers. On most laptops, there is an area around the display that doesn't show pictures, like a frame. We call this the bezel. In the middle of the bezel, above the display, you probably have a webcam: a camera that you can use on the web.
The part of the laptop with the letters is called the keyboard. A board is a flat surface, and this board is covered with buttons called keys; that's why we say keyboard! In front of the keyboard is a touchpad, which you can touch to move your cursor (the arrow on your computer screen).
On the sides of the laptop (not shown in this picture) you may have many different ports to plug in your power cord, headphones, or a USB cord.
More free English resources
Parts of a Laptop Computer
Parts of a Bike
English Vocabulary - Parts of a Bike
As you probably know, bike is a common short word for bicycle in English. Let's build our bicycle vocabulary by learning English names for parts of a bike!
The place where you sit is the seat, just like at the movies or in a car. You put your hands on the handlebars. Notice that this word is a combination of two other useful words: handle (something you hold in your hand) and bar (a long straight piece of metal). You put your feet on the two pedals.
The word bicycle actually means two (bi-) wheels (cycle). The rubber part of the wheel that touches the ground is called the tire. The thin metal pieces that connect to the middle of the wheel are called spokes.
The pedals connect to the rear wheel with a chain and many different circular gears. All of this is held together on a metal frame, the red part in this picture.
More free English vocabulary resources
Take a look at the different parts of a bike in English!
Parts of a Shoe
English Vocabulary - Parts of a Shoe
Next up in our Ginseng English series Parts of a... is shoes! Do you know the names for the parts of your shoes? Read on and you soon will!
Three parts of a shoe actually have the same names as parts of your body. The toe is the part of the shoe where your toes are. The heel is the part of the shoe where your heel (the back of your foot) goes. The third one is a little less expected. The part on top that comes from the inside is called the tongue! Your foot doesn't have a tongue of course, but this part of the shoe looks a little like a tongue! 👅
On top of the tongue, the strings that you tie together are called the laces. Finally, the part on the bottom that touches the ground is called the sole of the shoe.
Other free English vocabulary resources
Parts of a House
Across the world, everyone has some kind of home, though they all look very different! This post will describe the parts of a typical American house.
Parts of a House
Let's take a look at some common words to describe parts of a house!
To go into a house, you use the door. Many houses have a front door and a back door. When you want to look outside, you can look out the window. Windows bring in lots of light and make a house brighter. If it's too bright, or if there's a storm, your house might have shutters on each side of the windows. If you shut the shutters, the windows are protected, and it becomes darker inside.
On the top of each house is a roof. The roof keeps you dry if it is raining! The roof is supported by walls.
Some houses have a fireplace inside so that you can have a fire to keep warm. But if you have a fireplace, it is important to have a chimney, too! The chimney takes smoke from the fire outside so your house isn't smoky!
Things In A Living Room
Let’s talk about the things in this living room. But, before we even get to that, you may be wondering, what exactly is a living room? Well, in America, we call the room where the family hangs out and relaxes the living room. The living room is usually on the first floor of the house. 🏡 There are typically comfortable chairs or couches in it, and it is just a nice room to spend time together. 👨👩👧👦
Take a look at the picture, and follow with me as we go left to right identifying things in this living room.
First you will see a floor lamp. A lamp is the machine that makes light, usually with a lightbulb. 💡 This type of lamp is called a floor lamp because it sits on the floor.
This family really likes a bright room because they have 3 lights in it! Next to the pole lamp is the overheard light. Overhead means over your head! 👆🏼 You may remember this from the Ginseng Blog post “Things in the Kitchen.” This overhead light is hanging above the couch.
Next to the overheard light is a nice piece of art or artwork. 🖼 You can also call this a painting. 🎨
To the right of the artwork is the bookcase. A bookcase is a piece of furniture that is usually tall and made out of wood, and we put books on, or other things that we want to display or organize.
This bookcase has a small pink lamp on top of it. Next to the lamp is a house plant. 🌿 A house plant is just what it sounds like, a plant that lives in your house! This room actually has a couple of house plants.
On the second shelf from the top there two vases. 🏺🏺 Vases are containers for plants or flowers. But some are just decorative, meaning they don’t actually hold flowers. They just look pretty!
Under the vases and books are two more house plants, including a cactus.🌵 A cactus is that plant that grows in the desert and has sharp spikes on it.
In the middle of the room is the big soft piece of furniture that we all love to sit on. In America we call this either a sofa or couch. 🛋 A couch can usually fit two or three people on it. On the couch you will find throw pillows which are usually just decorative! Under the throw pillows are the cushions which are the big soft pillows that are a part of the couch.
Things In A Living Room 2
Here is a different living room, with some new English vocabulary for you. Let’s start in the center of this picture and work our way around it. In the center, you will see a piece of art with trees on it. 🖼🌳 You can also call this a painting.
To the right, we have a bookshelf. In the picture above, we talked about a bookcase. A bookcase is a piece of furniture that has many bookshelves in it. But you can also just have a bookshelf on your wall, like we see here! On this bookshelf, you will find a blue vase and are a couple of books ⚱️📚.
On the floor, under the artwork is a lounge chair. A lounge chair is different from a couch because it usually fits only one person. Lounge means to to sit back and relax, which is exactly what you’re supposed to do in a living room! On the lounge chair there are two throw pillows.
Next to the lounge chair is a footrest. A footrest is a small piece of furniture next to a chair that you can rest (or relax) your feet on. On top of the foot rest is a cushion.
To the left of the lounge chair is a side table. We call it a side table because it is a small table that we keep on the side of a couch or chair. On top of the side table is another vase with some flowers. 💐Next to the flowers is an old radio, which plays music or the news. 📻
Things In An office
Now you will learn all about the things in a typical American office! An office centers around the desk, which is the big piece of furniture in the middle of this picture that everything sits on.
On the top of this picture you’ll see an overhead light hanging from the ceiling. It is casting a pleasant glow of light over the desk. Good lighting is very important in an office!
Right under the light is a wall clock. We call this a wall clock because it is hung on the wall. Instead of the usual numbers on this clock, there are Roman numerals. This clock is showing that it is almost 11:20. We could also say that it is twenty past eleven, or almost half past eleven.
To the right and left of the clock are shelves.
On the right shelf there are books stacked on top of each other, and also leaning against one another. To the right of the books is an organizer. We can’t see what’s inside of it, but my guess is that there are office suppliesinside. Common office supplies are rubber bands, which are those stretchy rubber strings that hold things together, paper clips, which are wire devices used to hold sheets of paper together, and maybe some stamps for mailing letters.
Note that office supplies are different than office equipment. Office supplies, as mentioned above, will be used up and need to be replaced or replenished. It is usually someones job as office manager to re-order the office supplies. Office equipment, such as the lamps, desks, chairs, and computers, are things that will (hopefully!) last much longer and only need to be replaced every five or so years.
On the left shelf there are decorations or artwork.
Underneath the right shelf is a small plant, or to be more specific, a cactus. Everyone needs to stay caffeinated while working, so of course, there is a a mug of coffee (or tea!) on the desk next to the plant!
To the left of the coffee cup is the desktop computer. We call it a desktop because it sits on top of the desk! This is different than a laptop, which is portable, and can sit in your lap.
Hanging on the desktop is a pair of headphones to listen to music. There is also a mouse, sitting next to the computer. If you notice, neither of these have wires or cords coming out of them, which means that they are wireless and connect to the computer using bluetooth.
Stuck on the computer is a Post-it ® note. We use these, or sticky notes, to write ourselves reminders of tasks or information that we don’t want to forget! Another important office item to help us stay organized is a calendar. A calendar keeps track of the date so that we can make sure to meet our deadlines.
To the left of the calendar you will see a pencil holder or jar which holds more office supplies: a pair of scissors, a ruler, pens, and pencils.
Underneath the desk there is desk chair which is hopefully comfortable! You'll also see a trash can, or garbage can to put unwanted things in to be thrown out.
Lastly there are electric outlets underneath the desk which are used to plug the cords or wires into the wall. On this electric outlet there is a power strip, something that is used to turn one outlet into many so that you can plug multiple devices into the wall.
The style in this office is modern and minimal, which means it is very simple with clean lines and muted colors. You'd probably see furniture exactly like this at Ikea!
Things In A Bedroom
This has been a super long post and you’re probably ready for a nap now! Let’s wrap up this post by talking about the bedroom.
The most important thing in a bedroom is the bed, so let's start there!
In the center of the room you can see the bed. For your reference, when talking about a bed, we typically call the top of the bed where your head goes the head of the bed and the bottom of the bed where your feet go is known as the foot of the bed.
A bed has different parts. There is the bed frame, which sits on the floor and holds the mattress, the soft thing that we sleep on! Bed frames can be made out of wood or metal. At the head of the bed, there is a piece of furniture called the headboard. According to Wikipedia, bed frames "historically, served to isolate sleepers from drafts and cold in less insulated buildings, and thus were made of wood." Nowadays, we hope that your room is warm enough that the headboard is just decorative!
The bed has two blue pillows on it at the head of the bed. On top of the bed there is a nice warm bedspread, or blanket. We can also call this a comforter, or a duvet cover.
At the foot of the bed, on the floor, you will see a box with a cushion on top. This box can open up and be used to hold things. We might call this box either a an ottoman or a hope chest.
You might notice that both the bed and the stool have legs which are the little pieces of wood that hold the furniture off the ground.
Things in a Kitchen
More free English Vocabulary Resources
Parts of a Car
Basic English Vocabulary - Parts of a Car
Welcome to the first post in a new series on basic vocabulary from the Ginseng English Blog: Parts of a... Today, let's look at some useful vocabulary for the outside of a car!
On a car there are four tires, two front tires and two rear tires. Front and rear are useful words when we talk about cars. A car has two bumpers to protect you in an accident: a front bumper and a rear bumper. Above the bumpers are lights. There are headlights at the front of the car, and taillights at the rear of the car. On each side of the car is a side-view mirror, to help you see behind you. Inside the car is a rear-view mirror, too.
What other car vocabulary do you know? What do you want to know? Comment below!
