Lesson 5

Family

Here is a list of English vocabulary words related to family:

• Immediate family
  • Father
  • Mother
  • Son
  • Daughter
  • Sibling
• Extended family
  • Grandparents
  • Aunts
  • Uncles
  • Cousins
  • Nieces
  • Nephews
  • In-laws
• Other family terms
  • Parent
  • Child
  • Spouse
  • Partner
  • Family member
  • Relative
  • Kin
  • Tribe
  • Clan
  • House
  • Dynasty
  • Lineage
  • Ancestry
  • Heritage

Vocabulary

Family Tree (el Arbol Genealógico)

1.  Sharon is Michelle’s  mother .
     

2.  David is Michelle’s  ______________.
     

3.  Jose is Michelle’s  ______________.
     

4.  Kim is Michelle’s  ______________.
     

5.  Mike is Michelle’s  ______________.
     

6.  Priscilla is Michelle’s  ______________.
     

7.  Russell is Michelle’s  ______________.
     

8.  Pam is Michelle’s  ______________.
     

9.  Pete is Michelle’s  ______________.
     

10. Peter is Michelle’s  ______________.
     

11. Amanda is Michelle’s  ______________.
     

12. Valerie is Michelle’s  ______________.
     

13. Gabriel is Michelle’s  ______________ .
     

14. Daniel is Michelle’s  ______________.
     

15. Karen is Michelle’s  ______________ .
     

16. Anna is Michelle’s ______________ .
     

17. Ken is Michelle’s  ______________ .
     

18. Cecilia is Michelle’s  ______________ .
     

19. Bill is Michelle’s  ______________ .
     

20. Stuart is Michelle’s  ______________ .
     

21. Sarah is Michelle’s  ______________ .
     

Jose’s (Michelle’s husband’s) Family Tree

22. Virginia is Michelle’s ______________.
     

23. Francisco is Michelle’s ______________.
     

24. Marisa is Michelle’s ______________.
     

25. Jorge is Michelle’s ______________.
     

26. Richard is Michelle’s ______________.
     

27. Veronica is Michelle’s ______________.
     

28. Karina is Michelle’s ______________.
     

29. Miguel is Michelle’s ______________.
     

30. Gaby is Michelle’s ______________.
     

31. Michelle is Jose’s ______________.

Read and practice your pronunciation

• My mother is a stay-at-home mom, and my father works as a software engineer.
• My sister is a doctor, and my brother is a lawyer.
• I have two nieces and one nephew.
• My grandparents live in a small town in the Midwest.
• I’m very close to my extended family, and we see each other often.
• My family is very supportive of me, and I’m grateful for their love and encouragement.
• I’m so lucky to have such a wonderful family.

Here are some more specific sentences that you can use:

• My mother’s name is Mary, and she’s 55 years old.
• My father’s name is John, and he’s 60 years old.
• My sister’s name is Sarah, and she’s 28 years old.
• My brother’s name is David, and he’s 25 years old.
• My nieces are named Emily and Chloe, and they’re 5 and 3 years old, respectively.
• My nephew’s name is Michael, and he’s 1 year old.
• My grandparents’ names are Margaret and Peter, and they’re 80 and 78 years old, respectively.

     

Vocabulary – Vocabulario

• live – vivir
• interview – entrevista
• movie – película
• Good luck – Buena suerte
• swim – nadar
• fly – volar
• airplane – avión
• want – querer
• see – ver
• picture – foto
• Yeah – Sí (una manera informal de decir “Yes”)
• birthday – cumpleaños
• cute – curioso, bonito
• Of course – Por supuesto
• recognize – reconocer
• this – este
• that – ese
• these – estos
• those – esos
• talent – talento
• paint – pintar
• same – mismo
• lab – laboratorio
• engineer – ingeniero
• manager – gerente

Practice – Práctica
Choose the correct word for each sentence.

1.  I  live in a house.
     

2.  Pilots  ______________ airplanes.
     

3.  I’m twenty years old today.  It’s my  ______________.
     

4.  That actor is very good in that movie.  He has a lot of  ______________.
     

5.  The manager says that you have an  ______________ for that job at 2:00 PM..
     

6.  Oh!  The baby in the picture is so  ______________.
     

7.  In my art class all of the students  ______________ the same picture..
     

8.  “Are you a doctor in the hospital?”  “No, I work in the  ______________.

Possessives

Possessives are a way of showing ownership or possession. They can be used with nouns, pronouns, and phrases.

Nouns

To make a noun possessive, we usually add an apostrophe (‘) and an s (‘s) to the end of the word. For example, the noun “dog” becomes “dog’s” when it is possessive.

• The dog’s bone is under the table.
• The children’s toys are all over the floor.
• My mother’s car is parked in the driveway.

Pronouns

There are also possessive pronouns, which are pronouns that show ownership. The possessive pronouns are:

• mine
• yours
• his
• hers
• its
• ours
• theirs
• This book is mine.
• That toy is yours.
• His hat is on the chair.
• Her purse is on the table.
• The cat’s tail is wagging.
• Our dog is barking.
• Their children are playing in the yard.

Phrases

We can also use possessive phrases to show ownership. A possessive phrase is a phrase that includes a noun and a possessive pronoun or possessive noun. For example, the phrase “the cat’s tail” is a possessive phrase because it includes the noun “cat” and the possessive pronoun “‘s.”

• The girl with the red hair is my sister.
• The dog that belongs to my neighbor is barking.
• The house on the corner is my aunt’s.

To be question forms.

The verb “to be” has three forms in the present tense: am, is, and are. The verb “to be” has two forms in the past tense: was and were.

To form a question with the verb “to be,” we simply put the verb before the subject. For example:

• Positive: I am a student.
• Question: Am I a student?
• Positive: She is my friend.
• Question: Is she my friend?
• Positive: They are happy.
• Question: Are they happy?

In the past tense, we use the following forms:

• Positive: I was a student.
• Question: Was I a student?
• Positive: She was my friend.
• Question: Was she my friend?
• Positive: They were happy.
• Question: Were they happy?

We can also use the verb “to be” to form questions with other question words, such as “who,” “what,” “where,” “when,” and “why.” For example:

• Who is that?
• What is your name?
• Where are you from?
• When did you start working here?
• Why are you so late?

Present Tense

The word “do” is an auxiliary verb, which means that it helps to form other verbs. It is used to form questions in the present simple tense.

To form a question with the word “do,” we simply put it before the subject of the sentence. For example:

• Positive: You like chocolate.
• Question: Do you like chocolate?
• Positive: She plays the guitar.
• Question: Does she play the guitar?
• Positive: They walk to school.
• Question: Do they walk to school?

We can also use the word “do” to form questions with other question words, such as “who,” “what,” “where,” “when,” and “why.” For example:

• Who does that belong to?
• What do you want for dinner?
• Where do you live?
• When did you start working here?
• Why are you so late?

The word “do” can also be used to form negative questions. To do this, we simply add the word “not” after the word “do.” For example:

• Do you not like chocolate?
• Does she not play the guitar?
• Do they not walk to school?

Exercise

Example
Frank is her brother.  Is Frank her brother?

1.  They’re friends. ____________________
 

2.  She is a teacher. ____________________ 
  

3.  She’s his sister. ____________________ 
 

4.  They work in the bank. ____________________ 

5.  He walks in the afternoon. ____________________ 
 

6.  He lives in Mexico. ____________________

7.  The students study English. ____________________
 

8.  Kelly is a teacher. ____________________
 

9. The nurse helps the patients. ____________________
 

10. The waiters serve the food. ____________________

More exercises

• Who – ¿Quién?
• What – ¿Qué?
• Where – ¿Dónde?
• When – ¿Cuándo?
• Why – ¿Por qué?
• How – ¿Cómo?
• How many – ¿Cuántos?

Example use the underlined words to formulate the question.
Ann works at the restaurant.  
(Usamos “Who” porque Ann es una persona)

1.  Ann works at the restaurant. 

2.  Frank walks in the park on Sundays. 
     

3.  The book is on the table. 
        

4.  The book is on the table. 
        

5.  Larry works in the school. 
         

6.  Twenty two students are in the class. 

Practice with a partner

MARTHA – Do you want to see pictures of my family?

SALLY – Oh. Hi Martha. Yeah, of course!  Oh.  Who is the baby?

MARTHA – That’s my daughter.  Her name is Ericka.  This picture is from her first birthday.

SALLY – Oh.  She’s cute.  Who are the other people in the picture?

MARTHA – Of course, that’s me in the green dress.  The other people are my parents.  My mother’s name is Wilma and my father’s name is Ed.

MARTHA – Here’s another picture.

SALLY – I recognize you but who’s the man.

MARTHA – That’s my husband Carl.  He’s a great cook.

SALLY – My husband’s a terrible cook.

MARTHA – Here’s another picture.

SALLY – Who’s that?

MARTHA – That’s my sister Wanda and my nephew Tommy.

SALLY – Those are nice pictures.  Do you want to see my pictures?

MARTHA – Sure!

---

My name is Dennis and this is my family tree.  My father’s name is Steve.  He’s an architect and he lives in New York with my mother Mary.  My mom is a very talented artist.  She paints beautiful pictures.  I have one brother named Albert.  He is a computer engineer. Debra is my wife.  She is a nurse at the same hospital where I work.  I work in the lab. My daughter Donna is a doctor in San Francisco.  Donna’s husband’s name is Keith.  He is a restaurant manager.  They have a little girl named Becky who is three years old.

Practice – Práctica
Read the article above and choose the correct answer for the questions below.

Who works in a lab in a hospital? 

Who is an artist?  

Who is an architect?  

Who is three years old?  

Who is a restaurant manager?  

Who is a doctor?  

Who is a nurse? 

Pronunciation of letter U

The letter U can be pronounced in many different ways in English. Here are some of the most common pronunciations:

• Short U: This is the most common pronunciation of the letter U. It is pronounced as a short “oo” sound, as in the words “cup” and “up.”
• Long U: This pronunciation is slightly more open than the short U, and it is often described as a “oo” sound that is rounded. It can be heard in words like “rule” and “true.”
• Schwa: The schwa is a neutral vowel sound that is often used in unstressed syllables. The letter U can be pronounced as a schwa in words like “autumn” and “uncle.”
• Diphthong: A diphthong is a combination of two vowel sounds. The letter U can be pronounced as a diphthong in words like “music” and “huge.” In these words, the first part of the U sound is a short U, and the second part is a long U.
• W: In some words, the letter U is pronounced as a W sound. This can be heard in words like “suite” and “sew.”

The pronunciation of the letter U can also vary depending on the dialect of English that is being spoken. For example, in British English, the letter U is often pronounced as a short U in words like “cut” and “cup.” In American English, the letter U is more likely to be pronounced as a long U in these words.

Here are some examples of different sounds using the letter U:

• Short U: The short U sound is a close-mid back rounded vowel, represented by the IPA symbol /ʊ/. It is similar to the vowel sound in the word “cup.” Some other words with the short U sound include:
  • cut
  • up
  • must
  • fun
  • sun
• Long U: The long U sound is a close-mid back rounded vowel, represented by the IPA symbol /u/. It is similar to the vowel sound in the word “rule.” Some other words with the long U sound include:
  • rule
  • true
  • rude
  • huge
  • music
• Schwa: The schwa is a neutral vowel sound, represented by the IPA symbol /ə/. It is often used in unstressed syllables. The letter U can be pronounced as a schwa in words like:
  • autumn
  • uncle
  • about
  • computer
• Diphthong: A diphthong is a combination of two vowel sounds. The letter U can be pronounced as a diphthong in words like:
  • music
  • huge
  • cute
  • suit
  • sew
• W: In some words, the letter U is pronounced as a W sound. This can be heard in words like:
  • suit
  • sew
  • tune
  • duty
  • duty

The pronunciation of the letter U can also vary depending on the dialect of English that is being spoken. For example, in British English, the letter U is often pronounced as a short U in words like “cut” and “cup.” In American English, the letter U is more likely to be pronounced as a long U in these words.