Lesson 13: Family
In this lesson, you’ll learn some common family words in German. These are useful when you want to talk about the people in your family and understand simple everyday conversations.
What you’ll learn
- common family words in German
- how to recognize and say them
- a few simple phrases with family words
Close family words
Here are some important family words:
die Mutter = the mother
der Vater = the father
die Eltern = the parents
die Schwester = the sister
der Bruder = the brother
das Kind = the child
die Kinder = the children
These are some of the most useful family words for beginners.
More family words
Here are a few more common words:
die Oma = grandma
der Opa = grandpa
die Großmutter = grandmother
der Großvater = grandfather
die Familie = the family
Oma and Opa are very common in everyday German.
Talking about your family
Here are a few simple phrases:
meine Mutter = my mother
mein Vater = my father
meine Schwester = my sister
mein Bruder = my brother
meine Familie = my family
Notice that sometimes German uses mein and sometimes meine.
For now, just learn these phrases as a whole.
Simple example sentences
Here are some easy sentences:
Das ist meine Mutter. = That is my mother.
Das ist mein Vater. = That is my father.
Ich habe einen Bruder. = I have a brother.
Ich habe eine Schwester. = I have a sister.
Meine Familie ist groß. = My family is big.
You do not need to understand every grammar detail yet. The goal is to get used to the family vocabulary.
Useful question
A common beginner question is:
Hast du Geschwister? = Do you have siblings?
A simple answer could be:
Ja, ich habe einen Bruder. = Yes, I have a brother.
Ja, ich habe eine Schwester. = Yes, I have a sister.
Nein, ich habe keine Geschwister. = No, I do not have siblings.
Exercise: Match the family word
Deep dive into German Family Vocabulary.
