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Familie

79 words1 min read100% known at B2

Manchmal ist auch der Vater oder die Mutter nicht mehr da.

Sometimes the father or mother is no longer there either.

Zu einer Familie braucht es noch ein Kind, zwei Kinder, drei oder sogar mehr.

A family also needs a child, two children, three, or even more.

Das sind die Eltern der Mutter oder des Vaters.

These are the parents of the mother or the father.

Man kann auch noch Onkel und Tanten zu einer Groß-Familie zählen.

You can also count uncles and aunts as part of a big family.

Das sind die Brüder und Schwestern von Vater oder Mutter.

These are the brothers and sisters of the father or mother.

Manchmal gibt es in einer Familie einen neuen Papi oder eine neue Mami.

Sometimes a family gets a new dad or a new mom.

Manchmal haben nicht alle Geschwister denselben Papi oder dieselbe Mami.

Sometimes not all siblings have the same dad or the same mom.

18 words above B2

die Eltern← die Eltern
parents plural only A1/ˈɛltərn/
die Mutter← die Mutter
mother plural: Mütter mother; Mother; Mum; Mom: one's mother; nut (for a bolt) B1/ˈmʊtər/
der Vater← der Vater
father plural: Väter B1/ˈfaːtər/
das Kind← das Kind
child plural: Kinder kid; child (young person); child; offspring (person with regard to his or her parents; also a baby animal or young animal, especially as the second… A1/kɪnt/
die Kinder← das Kind
children plural form kid; child (young person); child; offspring (person with regard to his or her parents; also a baby animal or young animal, especially as the second… A1/kɪnt/
die Geschwister← die Geschwister
siblings plural only sibling B1/ɡəˈʃvɪstər/
die Onkel← der Onkel
uncles plural form; singular: der Onkel uncle B1/ˈɔŋkəl/
die Tanten← die Tante
aunts plural form aunt; woman, broad B1/ˈtantə/
die Brüder← der Bruder
brothers plural form brother; Brother (title of respect) B1/ˈbruːdɐ/
die Schwestern← die Schwester
sisters plural form sister; nurse; by extension used to refer to any medical staff that is not a doctor (usually, but not necessarily, confined to female staff); nurse;… B1/ˈʃvɛstɐ/
die Groß-Familie← die Groß-Familie
extended family compound noun
der Papi← der Papi
dad (colloquial) informal daddy B2/ˈpapi/
die Mami← die Mami
mom (colloquial) informal mom, mum B2
zählen
to count regular verb to count (to determine the number of objects in a group); to count (to recite numbers in order); to have, comprise, span (some numerical value) B1/ˈtsɛːlən/
brauchen
to need regular verb to need, to be in need of, to require; to need to, to have to A1/ˈbʁaʊ̯xən/
nicht mehr
no longer phrase
sogar
even even, actually, in fact A2/zoˈɡaːɐ̯/
dieselbe
the same (feminine) demonstrative pronoun

Grammar in this text

Negation with 'nicht mehr'

Manchmal ist auch der Vater oder die Mutter nicht mehr da.

'nicht mehr' means 'no longer' and is used to negate a state or action that used to be true but is not anymore. It appears after the verb.

Modal verb 'brauchen' + zu + infinitive

Zu einer Familie braucht es noch ein Kind, zwei Kinder, drei oder sogar mehr.

'brauchen' is used with 'zu' + infinitive to express necessity. Here it is used impersonally with 'es' to say 'it needs'.

Possessive genitive with 'von'

Das sind die Brüder und Schwestern von Vater oder Mutter.

Instead of using the genitive case, German often uses 'von' + dative to express possession, especially in spoken language. Here 'von Vater oder Mutter' means 'of father or mother'.

Demonstrative pronoun 'dieselbe'

Manchmal haben nicht alle Geschwister denselben Papi oder dieselbe Mami.

'dieselbe' (and its forms) is a demonstrative pronoun meaning 'the same'. It agrees in gender, number, and case with the noun it modifies. Here 'denselben' (masculine accusative) and 'dieselbe' (feminine accusative) are used.

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Text from Familie — Klexikon, used under CC BY-SA 4.0. See sources.

Translation, glossary and grammar notes are machine-generated and inherit the same licence.