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