Episode 0350

That's right. We're going to go see our family, our relatives, and we're going to talk about all the different family members that you can have.

So, there are some very, very specific family members that sometimes you don't really know the names of.

That's right. So we're not talking about mother, father, brother, sister. We're talking about what we call in English, extended family.

So that means not just the people you live with, but also people you are related to who are maybe in different parts of your family.

That's right.

So, let's listen to our dialogue and we'll be back in a bit.

What are you doing this weekend?

My brother-in-law's having a small get-together at his house and he invited me.

Is it a family thing or just friends?

A bit of both. Some cousins, aunts, and uncles will be there, but also some friends from the neighborhood.

Yeah, he's going to be there with his stepson and his ex-wife.

You mean your sister?

No, Rick is actually my great-uncle, so he's my grandmother's brother.

You lost me.

I'll explain later. Let's go.

All right, so now let's talk about these family members on language takeaway.

Language takeaway.

So, Marco, we've got four family members to talk about today.

And the first one is brother-in-law.

Right. So, we have the word brother-in-law.

So basically, this person is married to your sister.

That's right. So, I have a brother, I have a sister, um, but when these people marry, they marry someone who I'm not related to by blood.

We call them in-laws. So brother-in-law, sister-in-law.

Right. So that's exactly it. The key there is that when it has the ending "in-law", it means that you're not related to them by blood. It's your extended family because of marriage.

That's right. So I have a younger brother. When he gets married, I will have a sister-in-law.

That's right. And it applies to, for example, father-in-law, that would be your husband's, um, dad, or mother-in-law would be your husband's mother.

Yeah, so these are all related to you by marriage.

All right, so now moving on to the next type of extended family member that we have is a stepson. Your uncle has a stepson.

So a stepson.

Now this can get very confusing. Let's take a simple, simple family.

We have two people and they're married.

But they get divorced. So they split up.

And now, um, maybe they had some kids, the wife has kids, and she gets married to someone else.

So her new husband calls her son his stepson.

Right. Because it's not his son, it's another man's son. But they're still related by marriage.

So when your new husband or your new wife has kids from another marriage, they're called stepson, stepdaughter.

That's right. So it's the same thing as if my mother got divorced and she remarried, she has a new husband, that man would be my stepfather.

All right, so these are all family members when you hear the word step, family members that we have because of divorce.

So stepson, stepdaughter, stepfather, stepmother.

All right, and now again, related to the whole divorce thing, the person that you get divorced to is called an ex-wife or an ex-husband.

All right, so X, like ex-girlfriend or ex-boyfriend means previous.

Um, so my ex-wife is someone I was married to before, or in the case of a woman, my ex-husband is someone I was married to before, but we got divorced, so we're not married now.

That's exactly it.

So, and it only applies to a husband and wife, right? You don't say my ex-children or my ex-mother-in-law.

Well, because your children are always your children.

Exactly.

Um, if you talk about your ex-wife's parents, you just say my ex-wife's father or my ex-wife's mother because there's no more in-law, there's no law, you're not married.

Right.

Okay.

And lastly, now we have an uncle, but just not any uncle, we have our great uncle.

Great uncle. So they actually explained this in the dialogue.

Um, they say, he is my grandmother's brother.

Right.

Okay, so my uncle, simple. My uncle is my mother's brother or my father's brother. Easy.

But my great uncle is one of my grandparents' brothers.

Right.

So my grandmother's brother or my grandfather's brother.

Right. In English we don't distinguish. We don't say a different word for grandmother's brother or grandfather's brother.

Right, right.

Exactly. So your great uncle could be either your grandmother's brother or your grandfather's brother.

That's right. So in my family, I have, well, I just have one great uncle and one great aunt. My grandmother has a sister, so I have a great aunt, and my grandfather has a brother, so I have a great uncle.

And now the prefix "great" can also be applied, for example, to grandparents. So you can say my great-grandfather.

That's right. So we're talking about generations.

I have a grandfather, but his father is my great-grandfather. That means we go back in the past one more generation.

That's right.

All right, so let's take a break and let's listen to the dialogue again.

What are you doing this weekend?

My brother-in-law's having a small get-together at his house and he invited me.

Is it a family thing or just friends?

A bit of both. Some cousins, aunts, and uncles will be there, but also some friends from the neighborhood.

Yeah, he's going to be there with his stepson and his ex-wife.

You mean your sister?

No, Rick is actually my great-uncle, so he's my grandmother's brother.

You lost me.

I'll explain later. Let's go.

All right, we're back so we've picked out three key phrases for you. Let's take a look at those now on fluency builder.

Fluency builder.

All right, so on Fluency Builder we have a great noun here actually. You might have heard this before in a different way, but in today's dialogue we're talking about a small get-together. My brother-in-law is having a small get-together.

Now what is a get-together, Marco?

Right. So as you notice, we say "a get-together", meaning that "get-together" we are taking it as a noun. And it may be confusing because you see the verb "get", right?

And you're thinking it's a verb, but no, "a get-together" is a reunion, a meeting.

All right, a party.

A party.

So maybe it's a a very informal party, very casual, not fancy. Um, a get-together. I could say, Marco, I'm having a get-together at my apartment. Do you want to come and bring your girlfriend?

Right? So very simple, maybe we have a drink or some food, but it's nothing fancy.

That's right. Very informal, very casual, a get-together.

And when we were asking about the get-together, we asked if it's a family thing or is it just friends?

So I want to take a look at this phrase here, "a family thing." Is it a family thing?

Um, what am I asking when I say, "Okay, Marco, this party you're having, is it a family thing?"

Well, you're asking if it's a family reunion, a family party.

Mhm. So, um, that means if I'm not in your family, can I still come?

Right.

Right? Because if it's a family thing, it's just for people in my family.

Right.

If it's for everyone, no problem.

But I don't want to go to your house if it's a family thing because that's private.

Right. So usually, for example, uh, maybe Christmas dinner would usually be a family thing. You celebrate it with your family mostly, but you know, it's not always a family thing.

That's right. I could say this here, my birthday is just a family thing. I'm only inviting family members.

Exactly.

All right, and lastly, uh, we got a little bit confused with the great uncle and the stepson and the ex-wife. And so we said, you know what, you lost me. You lost me.

You lost me. Now, this is another great phrase.

Uh, the phrase means I don't understand. I'm confused.

Right.

That's exactly it. So if someone is explaining something and I don't understand, then you you can say, you know what, you lost me. I don't understand.

Right, and sometimes I say this when someone is giving a very, very long explanation for something.

So, to get to my house, you turn left here, and then you go two blocks, you turn right, and you go straight, and then you wait for the stop light, and then you go to the the right-hand corner, there's a store.

I say, "Wait, wait, wait, you lost me."

Right, exactly. I don't understand. I I'm confused.

That's right.

All right, so that's all we have. Let's listen to the dialogue one last time.

What are you doing this weekend?

My brother-in-law's having a small get-together at his house and he invited me.

Is it a family thing or just friends?

A bit of both. Some cousins, aunts, and uncles will be there, but also some friends from the neighborhood.

Yeah, he's going to be there with his stepson and his ex-wife.

You mean your sister?

No, Rick is actually my great-uncle, so he's my grandmother's brother.

You lost me.

I'll explain later. Let's go.

So speaking of extended family members, what what else can we mention?

We have a step, step family, your stepson, your stepdaughter. What about if you have an adopted child? Would you say, would you differentiate it?

Some people do, some people don't. Most people just say this is my son, this is my daughter.

Um, but I would like to add that with step-stepson, stepdaughter, it's not just divorced that we have this.

Also, if the parent, the parent, maybe the mother dies and the father has a new wife, then the new wife can say, this is my stepson, this is my stepdaughter.

So there are two possibilities. One is death, and one is remarriage because of divorce.

But as far as adopted, no, usually just say my son and my daughter.

But I can tell you this, um, if my father and my mother divorce, my father has a new wife and together they have a baby, the baby boy or girl is my half-brother or half-sister.

Because we share one parent. My father.

Right. This is very interesting. So if you do have a brother or sister that is not from your same mother or father, but just one parent, then yeah, it's called a half-brother or sister.

Half. Remember this, half because half of their parents are the same as your parents. Maybe one or father or mother.

But with step-brothers and step-sisters, the only reason you're related is because of marriage, not because of blood.

We didn't mention that you you could have step a step-brother. So it's your brother, but he's legally your brother, but he's not related to your father or or anyone in your family.

That's right. That's right. So, um, maybe you have, um, maybe you have many step-brothers and you could have a step-brother and a half-brother. So there are lots of different combinations because of many different reasons.

All right, guys, that's all the time we have for today, but uh, it's a little bit of a confusing topic. So if you have any questions or any doubts, you can come to our website Englishpod.com and you can leave them there.

The English pod audio review.

Listen to the meaning, then say the vocabulary word.

A male sibling.

Brother.

A brother of one's father or mother.

Uncle.

The son or daughter of an uncle or aunt.

Cousin.

The sister of one's father or mother.

Aunt.

A son of one's husband or wife by a previous marriage.

Stepson.

A woman who was formerly a particular man's wife.

Ex-wife.

Let's try that faster.

A brother of one's father or mother.

Uncle.

A male sibling.

Brother.

A woman who was formerly a particular man's wife.

Ex-wife.

A son of one's husband or wife by a previous marriage.

Stepson.

The sister of one's father or mother.

Aunt.

The son or daughter of an uncle or aunt.

Cousin.

Now say the word and hear it in a sentence.

Ex-wife.

Ex-wife.

Ex-wife.

Cousin.

Cousin.

Cousin.

Uncle.

Uncle.

She has this uncle who always drinks too much alcohol at Christmas time.

Uncle.

Stepson.

It's very hard to have a stepson, as I don't know how I should discipline him.

Stepson.

Stepson.

Aunt.

Aunt.

Aunt.