German for Beginners Talking About Family and Relatives

In this lesson,​ we introduce vocabulary and grammar related to talking about your family and yourself. Youll learn words and phrases that will let you talk about your own family in German, as well as understand what someone else says about his or her family. You can also listen to the vocabulary! In addition to the members of a family (die Familie, dee fah-MILL-yah), youll learn how to ask someones name (and answer), talk about family relationships and give the ages of people. We will also discuss the difference between the formal and informal you in German - a vital cultural and language distinction that English-speakers need to understand! Cognates One of the first things youll notice is that many of the German words for the family are similar to the English terms. It is easy to see the close Germanic language family resemblance between  Ã¢â‚¬â€¹brother/Bruder,  father/Vater, or  daughter/Tochter. We call these similar words in two languages  cognates. There are a lot of English-German cognates for the family. Others are familiar because of common Latin or French origins:  family/Familie,  uncle/Onkel, etc. After you have studied this lesson, you will be able to read and understand a short paragraph in German about your or someone elses family. Youll even be able to draw your own family tree (Stammbaum) in German! AUDIO: Click on the German phrases linked below to hear them. Familienmitglieder - Family Members Notice in the phrases below that when you talk about a feminine (die) person (or thing), the possessive pronoun  mein  ends in  e. When talking about a masculine (der) person (or thing),​  mein  has no ending in the nominative (subject) case. Other possessive forms (sein, his;  dein, your, etc.) work the same way. The final  e  in German is always pronounced: (meine   MINE-ah) Deutsch English die Mutter - meine Mutter mother - my mother der Vater - mein Vater father - my father die Eltern - meine Eltern (pl.) parents - my parents der Sohn - sein Sohn son - his son die Tochter - seine Tochter daughter - his daughter der Bruder - ihr Bruder brother - her brother die Schwester - seine Schwester sister - his sister AUDIO  (mp3 or wav) for These Words    die Geschwister - meine Geschwister (pl.) siblings / brothers sisters - my brothers and sisters die Gromutter - meine Gromutter grandmother - my grandmother die Oma - meine Oma grandma/granny - my grandma der Grovater - dein Grovater grandfather - your grandfather der Opa - sein Opa grandpa/gramps - his grandpa der Enkelsohn - mein Enkelsohn grandson - my grandson die Enkelin - seine Enkelin granddaughter - his granddaughter More family words in the German  Family Glossary.