Family Words in German
Family words are among the first nouns worth learning properly. Each one is listed with its article, because in German the article is part of the word.
Parents and children
-
dieMutter
MOOT-ter
-
mother
Mama in everyday speech
-
derVater
FAH-ter
-
father
Papa in everyday speech
-
dieEltern
EL-tern
-
parents
Plural only, there is no singular
-
dieTochter
TOKH-ter
-
daughter
-
derSohn
zohn
-
son
-
dasKind
kint
-
child
Kinder in the plural
Brothers, sisters and grandparents
-
dieSchwester
SHVES-ter
-
sister
-
derBruder
BROO-der
-
brother
-
dieGeschwister
guh-SHVIS-ter
-
siblings
One word for brothers and sisters together
-
dieGroßmutter
GROHS-moot-ter
-
grandmother
Oma is what people actually say
-
derGroßvater
GROHS-fah-ter
-
grandfather
Opa is what people actually say
-
dasEnkelkind
ENG-kel-kint
-
grandchild
The wider family
-
dieTante
TAN-teh
-
aunt
-
derOnkel
ON-kel
-
uncle
-
dieCousine
koo-ZEE-neh
-
cousin (female)
-
derCousin
koo-ZAN
-
cousin (male)
Borrowed from French, said the French way
-
dieFrau
frow
-
wife, woman
-
derMann
man
-
husband, man
-
dieFamilie
fah-MEE-lee-eh
-
family
Why the article matters here
German nouns carry der, die or das, and there is no reliable way to guess which. Learning Mutter on its own means learning it twice, so learn die Mutter.
Family words break the pattern you might expect: das Kind and das Mädchen, the word for girl, are both neuter rather than feminine.
To say my, use mein before a der or das word and meine before a die word: mein Bruder, meine Schwester.
- Das ist meine Schwester.This is my sister.
- Ich habe zwei Brüder.I have two brothers.
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