Virtuous English AcademyFamily & People — A1 English Vocabulary
This A1 vocabulary list gathers 20 beginner English words about family & people — the people closest to you, and everyone else. Every word comes with a simple definition, its British-English pronunciation and a natural example sentence, so you learn each one in real context. When you are ready, open the flashcards to practise and remember them for good.
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Using family & people words in English
Family is usually the first thing a learner is asked about after their name, so these twenty words earn their place quickly. Three pieces of grammar come with them, and all three appear in the very first conversation you will have: the way English shows possession with apostrophe s, the British habit of saying have got rather than have, and the fact that several of the commonest words here have irregular plurals.
What to watch out for
Irregular plurals cluster in this topic
Child becomes children, man becomes men, woman becomes women — and the pronunciation of women changes to sound like wimin, which surprises almost everyone. Person becomes people in ordinary use. Parents is nearly always plural.
Possession uses apostrophe s, not of
English says my sister’s name, not the name of my sister. The of version is not exactly wrong but sounds heavy and unnatural for people. Note the order too: the owner comes first, so my brother’s friend and my friend’s brother are two different people.
Have got is the everyday British form
For family, British speakers usually say I have got two sisters — shortened in speech to I’ve got. I have two sisters means exactly the same and is more common in American English. Both are correct; questions differ, though: Have you got a brother? against Do you have a brother?
Words learners mix up
Two tables. The first sorts out three words that all point at a young person but do not mean the same thing. The second is the one that decides whether you sound fluent, because English chooses his or her in a way many languages never have to.
Child, son and boy are not the same word
| Word | What it actually means | In a sentence |
|---|---|---|
| child | A young person — and also somebody’s son or daughter at any age. Parents of forty-year-olds still say my children. | They have three children. |
| son | A male child of his parents. This is about the family, not about age: a man of sixty is still his mother’s son. | Their son is a doctor. |
| boy | A young male, and only about age. Using it for a grown man sounds rude in English. | The boy is six years old. |
The test is quick: ask whether you mean age or family. Age gives you boy, girl and baby. Family gives you son, daughter and child. Child is in both groups, which is why How many children have you got? is a safe question to ask a parent of any age.
His, her and their follow the owner
| Word | What it actually means | In a sentence |
|---|---|---|
| sister | She is the owner, so anything belonging to her takes her, whatever that thing is. | My sister lives with her husband. |
| brother | He is the owner, so it is his — again whatever the thing is. | My brother came with his wife. |
| parents | More than one owner, so it is their, whether they are two women, two men or one of each. | My parents sold their house. |
English takes his or her from the person who owns the thing, never from the thing itself. So my sister and her husband is right, while my sister and his husband describes a different family altogether. If your first language uses one word for both — Turkish, Persian, Hungarian and Finnish all do — this is not something to understand once but something to drill.
Collocations that sound natural
Four family words and the phrases that come with them ready-made.
friend
a best frienda close friendan old friendmake friendsa friend of mine
You make friends in English — you do not find them or win them. And an old friend is somebody you have known a long time, not somebody who is old.
baby
have a babya newborn babythe baby is cryingbaby clothes
Have a baby means to give birth. Before that day English says She is pregnant or, more gently, She is expecting.
parents
live with your parentsask your parentsboth parentsmy parents’ house
The apostrophe goes after the s in my parents’ house, because the owners are already plural. One owner would be my mother’s house.
child
an only childa small childchildren’s bookswhen I was a child
The possessive of the plural is children’s, with the apostrophe before the s — children is plural already, so it needs no second one.
Where each word belongs
Five words that change with who is speaking. Small children, adults and official forms use different words for exactly the same person, and choosing the wrong one is what sounds odd rather than wrong.
- motherWriting · formsThe word on official paper and in careful writing. In speech British people say mum, Americans say mom, and small children say mummy.
- fatherWriting · formsSame pattern: dad in speech and daddy from small children. Calling your own father father to his face sounds cold or very old-fashioned.
- grandmotherWriting · formsIn speech each family picks its own: granny, grandma, nan or nanny in Britain. None of them is more correct than the others.
- womanNever as an addressYou describe somebody as a woman, but you never call across a room Woman! — it is rude. To get a stranger’s attention English uses Excuse me and no noun at all.
- friendWider than you expectBritish people call people a friend quite easily, including people they barely know. Say a friend of mine rather than my friend when you do not want to suggest a partner.
Sentences to try
Four frames for talking about your own family. Say each one aloud with your real answer.
- I’ve got one sister and two brothers.
- My mother’s name is Ana.
- This is my friend. She is a student.
- My grandfather lives with my parents.
Questions about family & people vocabulary
What is the plural of child, man and woman?
Children, men and women — none of them add a regular -s. Watch the pronunciation of women, which sounds like wimin and not like the singular with an extra syllable. Person is a fourth irregular in this group: its everyday plural is people, and persons survives only in legal and official language.
Should I say "I have" or "I have got" for family?
Either. I’ve got two sisters and I have two sisters mean the same thing; the first is more typically British and more common in speech, the second more typically American and slightly more formal. The difference shows up in questions and negatives, where the two forms do not mix: Have you got a sister? or Do you have a sister?, never a blend of the two.
How do I say family relationships in English?
Start with the possessive: my mother, my father’s brother. English has no separate words for a mother’s brother and a father’s brother — both are simply uncle, and the same applies to aunt. If the distinction matters, you say it explicitly: my uncle on my mother’s side. Cousins are likewise ungendered in English, unlike in many other languages.