Idioms and Expressions

C Family names

When you are born, your family gives you a first name, e.g. James, Kate, Sarah and Alex are common first names in Britain. Your family name (also called your surname) is the one that all the family share e.g. Smith, Brown, Jones, and O'Neill are common surnames in Britain. Some parents give their children a middle name (like a first name), but you do not usually say this name. Your full name is all the names you have, e.g. Sarah Jane Smith.

D Changing times

Society changes and so do families. In some places, people may decide to live together but do not get married. They are not husband and wife, but call each other their partner. There are also many families in some parts of the world where the child or children live(s) with just their mother or father; these are sometimes called single-parent families.

E Friends

We can use a number of adjectives before friend: an old friend (= someone you have known for a long time) a close friend (= a good friend; someone you like and trust) your best friend (= the one friend you feel closest to) We use the word colleagues to describe the people we work with.

F Ex-

We use this for a husband/wife/boyfricnd/girlfricnd we had in the past but do not have now:

The children stay with my cx-husband at the weekend.

I saw an cx-girlfricnd of mine at the disco last night.

English Vocabulary in Use (prt-iniermediate & intermediate)

Exercises

46.1 Look at the family tree and complete the sentences below.

1 John is Jill's..........................................

2 Timothy is Jill's..........................................

3 Eve and Ana are Timothy's..........................................

4 Eve is Sheila's.........................................

5 Albert Dodds is Tom's.......................................... *

6 Barry is Eve's.........................................

7 Susan is Timothy's......................................... „

8 As Paul died in 1995, Jill is a..........................................

9 Tom is Mary's.........................................

10 The only two people who are not related are.......................................... and

46.2 Answer these questions about yourself and your country.

1 What's your first name?

2 What's your surname?

3 Is that a common name in your country?

4 Do you have a middle name?

5 Are you an only child?

6 Who is your oldest friend?

7 Do you work? If so, how many of your work colleagues are also your friends?

8 Do you have any ex-boyfriends or ex-girlfriends who speak English very well?

9 Are single-parent families becoming more common in your country?

10 In your country, do more and more people live together without getting married?

46.3 Draw your own family tree. Are there any relationships you cannot describe in English? Can
you also write a short summary of your family background (as in B on the opposite page)?

aunt

baby brother/sister

big brother/sister

bride

brother

cousin

dad p

daddy

daughter

dependent

family dog

folks

father

fiancé (e)

first husband, etc.

foster parent

foster child gram

gramp

granddaughter

grandfather

List 7: Family

grandma

grandmother

grandpa

grandson

great aunt

great uncle

great grandson

groom

guardian - ^^

husband

, in-laws

^kindred ma

middle child mom mommy mother

(mother)-in-law niece nephew

Idioms and Expressions

pa

pop

sibling

sis

^: sister

half-

step-

­son

spouse adopted

adoptive

maternal

paternal orphan uncle widow widower wife relation

relative

all in the family

better half

chip off the old block come by it naturally kissing cousins

family tree favorite son sibling rivalry spitting image take after

son of a gun

wicked stepmother

'wife (to be)

your old (man) like father, like son

Date: 2015-12-24; view: 2160