IELTS Vocabulary Words - Family

In an IELTS interview, you will be asked questions about your family. Learn It Town has many classes that teach about family. Our students start talking about family from the moment they arrive. Our teachers ask them every day about their family. It is an important part of communication in all languages.

Everyone enjoys talking about their immediate family and their extended family and listening about the families of their friends.

Immediate family are your husband or wife, your children, your parents and your brothers and sisters.

Your grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles are all apart of your extended family.

Let's look at the members of your family and get familiar with the vocabulary.

Write the words below in your English Vocabulary Notebook. Be sure to use them in your Learn It Town classes or events. Write about your family in your posts and assignments, then talk about them with your group of English language friends.

IELTS Conversation Vocabulary: Immediate Family

spouse
a husband or wife
sibling
a brother or sister
sibling rivalry
a feeling of competition between siblings (This is a possible topic not just in IELTS Speaking and Listening, but also in the Reading and Writing portions of the exam.)

IELTS Conversation Vocabulary: Extended family

aunt
the sister of your father or mother
uncle
the brother of your father or mother
cousin
the son or daughter of your aunt or uncle
niece
the daughter of your brother or sister
nephew
the son of your brother or sister
in-laws
“In-law” is used to describe the relatives of your husband or wife — that is, the relatives of your spouse. Your spouse’s brother is your brother-in-law, your spouse’s sister is your sister-in-law, your spouse’s mother is your mother-in-law, your spouse’s father is your father-in-law, and so on.

IELTS Conversational Vocabulary: Less common family words

step
Just as “in-laws” are your relatives by current marriage, your “step” relatives are relatives from previous marriages. For example, if a man marries a woman who already has children, he becomes their step father, and they become his step children. And if both a husband and wife have children from their previous marriages, those children become each others’ step siblings.
great grandparents (great grandmother and great grandfather)
the parents of your grandparents
great grandchildren
the children of your grandchildren