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Familie

79 words1 min read100% known at C1

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 C1

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/
der Onkel← der Onkel
uncle plural: Onkel 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 also written as Großfamilie
der Papi← der Papi
dad (colloquial) plural: Papis daddy B2/ˈpapi/
die Mami← die Mami
mom (colloquial) plural: Mamis mom, mum B2
nicht mehr da← nicht mehr da sein
no longer there, absent phrase
braucht es← brauchen
it needs 3rd person singular present of brauchen to need, to be in need of, to require; to need to, to have to A1/ˈbʁaʊ̯xən/
zählen
to count, to include 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/
dieselbe← derselbe
the same demonstrative pronoun, feminine nominative the same; selfsame; idem B1
denselben← derselbe
the same demonstrative pronoun, masculine accusative the same; selfsame; idem B1

Grammar in this text

Possessive genitive with proper names

die Eltern der Mutter oder des Vaters

The genitive case is used to show possession. 'der Mutter' is feminine genitive, 'des Vaters' is masculine genitive. Note the article changes.

Use of 'man' as impersonal pronoun

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

'man' is used to make general statements, equivalent to 'one' or 'you' in English. It is always singular and takes the verb in the 3rd person singular.

Demonstrative pronoun 'derselbe' with case inflection

Manchmal haben nicht alle Geschwister denselben Papi oder dieselbe Mami.

'derselbe' means 'the same' and agrees in gender, number, and case with the noun it modifies. Here 'denselben' is masculine accusative, 'dieselbe' is feminine accusative.

Use of 'es' as placeholder subject

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

'es' is used as a placeholder subject in impersonal constructions. Here it refers to the requirement of having children; the actual subject is the infinitive phrase or the noun phrase that follows.

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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.