Family

1. Describing Closeness: Tight/Tight-knit/ Pretty close/ Fairly close/ Super close

Meaning:

Using adjectives like tight or tight-knit are a great alternative to saying ‘close‘. You can also use conversational adverbs like pretty, fairly and super to sound more natural. You can use the comparative ‘tighter‘ or the superlative ‘tightest‘ but not ‘tight-knitter‘ or ‘tight-knittest‘.

Examples:

My family is actually pretty tight-knit.

My family on my mum’s side are super close but my dad’s side not as much.

I’d like my family to be tighter but we all just have such different personalities.

I’m the tightest with my sister I’d say.

I’m fairly tight with my sister but not the rest of the family.

My brother and mum and pretty tight.

My sister is super tight with my grandma.

2. Describing having a good relationship with someone: Get Along With/ Get on with

Meaning:

This phrasal verb can be adjusted to show the degree to how good or bad your relationship is with a person. E.g. ‘We get on like a house on fire‘ is the highest level. ‘We get on super/really/incredibly well‘ is next. ‘We get on fairly/pretty well‘ follows. ‘We get on well‘ is quite neutral and amicable. ‘We get on ok/alright‘ shows distance’. ‘We don’t really get on that well‘, ‘We don’t get on well‘ and ‘we don’t get on well at all‘ are the negative expressions.

Examples:

I get on well with both my parents, but I’m tighter with my dad.

I’ve always gotten along with both my siblings.

I used to not get on at all with my brother, but now we’re fairly close.

I don’t get on that well with my sister.

My dad gets on with my granny.

3. Describing activity together: Get together (with)/ Hang out (with)/ Chill out (with)/ Kick back (with)

Meaning:

Getting together and hanging out both mean socialise and are quite neutral. It can be meeting for coffee, the cinema, visiting an art gallery etc. However, chilling out with and kicking back with implies relaxation, so the activity is not too active. E.g. watching tv, having some food or drinks at someone’s home etc.

Examples:

Let’s get together and feel alright!- Bob Marley (One Love).

On major holidays, all my family get together and have a BBQ.

Sometimes my family and I hang out after dinner drinking tea and chatting.

During the summer, my family kick back and sunbathe outside with some fresh lemonade.

I usually chill out with my sister after dinner watching a series.

4. Describing Childhood to Adulthood: Grow up/ Bring up/ Raise/ Rear/ Upbringing

Meaning:

Make sure not to say ‘I grow up my children‘. In English, the feeling of this word is that this process cannot be commanded. Children grow up but cannot be grown up. What you might want to say is ‘I raised/ brought up/reared my children‘. Most likely, describing your upbringing/childhood, you will use the passive voice: ‘I was raised in the countryside.

Examples:

I grew up in the countryside.

I was brought up on a farm.

I had a pretty standard upbringing.

I plan on raising my children with the same values that my parents instilled in me.

I grew up in a well-off family.

I was raised in a not so well-off family.

I was reared with my 3 brothers.

I was brought up by a single mother.

I was raised a single mother, so I had to grow up fast.

I was fortunate to be brought up in a loving family.

I grew up during the war.

5. Describing Communication between family: Keep in touch/ Keep in contact/ Check in with/ Catch up with/ Drop by/ Call by/ Call (A)round

Meaning:

Keep in touch/ keep in contact/ Check in with are used commonly when you don’t see someone regularly but try to message, call or meet up to maintain the relationship. Catching up involves discussing all the things in your lives since your last meeting. Drop by/ Call (a)round/ Call by are ways to say you visit smb, usually that you know. Prepositions: Use ‘with‘ to indicate the person you’re talking to and ‘on‘ to show the topic(s) you are talking about.

Examples:

I’ll call round on my way home from town!

I always drop by my granny’s after work.

My sister and I keep in touch, but I probably talk to my brother only a few times a year.

I try to keep in contact with all my uncles and aunties, but sometimes life gets so busy.

I met up with my cousins and we caught up on everything since the new year last year.

I haven’t chatted to my grandpa in a while. I must check in with him soon.

Call by some time and we’ll catch up!

6. Describing Similarities between family members: Take after (resemble/ to have similar qualities to smb)

Meaning:

This means to resemble or to have the same qualities as your parents or grandparents. It can be your appearance, personality, interests or abilities.

Examples:

I take after my dad but my brother takes after my mum.

I take after my dad in terms of personality.

I’m quite tan.. so I take after my mum’s side of the family.

I do engineering.. I guess I take after my dad and granda.

My siblings and I take after my dad’s side because we’re all tall.

I don’t really take after anyone in my family. I’m a bit different to everyone!

My son takes after me in terms of appearance, but he’s more like his mother in terms of personality.

7. Describing Differences between family members: To be like chalk and cheese (complete opposites)

Meaning:

To be totally opposite in personality or skillset or interests.

Examples:

My brother stays inside and reads books while I love being outside socialising.. we’re like chalk and cheese!

I love my dad, but we’re like chalk and cheese!

8. Describing having a family: Settle down

Meaning:

Settling down can mean with regard to your career or your lifestyle. It’s often used to show a transition of single life to family life.

Examples:

In the future, I’d like to settle down in my hometown.

I’d like to settle down in my thirties.

My parents are always pushing me to settle down.

Most of my friends have settled down already.

I’d like to settle down in a nice part of town.

Examiner: Let’s discuss family. Can you tell me, how many people are there in your immediate family?

Student: In my immediate family, there are five of us. My parents, my two sisters, and me.

Examiner: Do you get along well with your family?

Student: Yes, we do indeed. We’re super tight-knit. Everyone gets on well with each other, and there’s not a lot of bickering anymore like when we were kids thankfully!

Examiner: Which member of your family are you closest to?

Student: I’d probably say I’m closest to my younger sister. We have lots in common. We both are big Harry Potter nerds and love hiking. My other sister and I are like chalk and cheese! She’s more of a gamer!

Examiner: Do you look more like your mother or father?

Student: A bit of both I’d say. I definitely take after my dad with my height but I have similar hair and eyes to my mum.

Examiner: How much time do you spend with your family?

Student: Well, I’m away for uni most of the year, so we can’t get together as often as we’d like. But we make an effort to keep in touch and visit each other whenever we can. During holidays and breaks, I try to drop by for a few days.

Examiner: When did you last have a family party?

Student: Our last family party was to celebrate my older sister’s engagement. We all got together at my parent’s.

1. How many people are there in your immediate family?

2. Do you get along well with your family?

3. Which member of your family are you closest to?

4. How much time do you spend with your family?

5. When did you last have a family party?

i) Describe a family celebration that you attended.

You should say:

● where this celebration was held

● why it was held

● what you did at the event

and explain what you enjoyed about the celebration.

ii) Describe someone in your family who you really admire.

You should say:

● what relation this person is to you

● what are your first memories of this person

● how often you see this person

and explain why you really admire this person.

iii) Describe a family member that you go on well with.

You should say:

● what relationship you have with that person

● what that person is like

● what you do together

and why you get on so well.

iv) Describe something useful you learned from a member of your family.

You should Say:

● What you learned.

● How this became useful later in your life

● Have you taught it to someone

and explain why it was important for you.

1. In what ways can people in a family be similar to each other?

2. In terms of personality, are people influenced more by their family or by their friends?

3. How has the role of elderly people in the family changed in recent times?

4. How has the size of the family changed in the last few decades in your country?

5. How do you think the family will change in the future?

6. Who do you think should be responsible for the care of the elderly, the family or the

government?

7. Which are more important: family or friends?

Make up a story about a fictional character using each set of words. You must integrate all of these words in the correct tense into your story.

E.g. If the set includes the following: Pretty close, Get on with, take after, settle down, the story could be something like this: “It was Christmas, and Harry was talking to his aunties and uncles. He was pretty close with one of the uncles but didn’t really get on with his auntie; they had quite different personalities. Harry’s uncle looked him up and down and said “You take after your dad for sure! Look at the size of you!” Harry enjoyed their banter. But then his auntie out of nowhere ruined the mood and asked, “So, when are you settling down?? Any time soon?” Harry rolled his eyes and continued chatting away with his uncle.

Set 1:

Tight
Get Along With
Get Together
Raise

Set 2:

Tight-knit
Get on with
Hang out with
Settle down

Set 3:

Fairly Close
Keep in touch
Take after
Like Chalk and Cheese

Fill in the appropriate vocabulary in the correct tense from the following list to complete the story. The words may be used more than once or not used at all.


Tight/Tight-knit/ Pretty close/ Fairly close/ Super close, Get Along With/ Get on with, Get together (with)/ Hang out (with)/ Chill out (with)/ Kick back (with), Grow up/ Bring up/ Raise/ Rear/ Upbringing, Keep in touch/ Keep in contact/ Check in with/ Catch up with/ Drop by/ Call round, Take after (resemble/ to have similar qualities to smb), like chalk and cheese (complete opposites), Settle down

Having not seen each other in a while, Tina called her family members and asked if they wanted to 1) ____ ______. They were a 2) _____ family so they said yes immediately. There were only a couple of the family members who didn’t really 3) ___ ____. Molly and Jane particularly didn’t 4) ____ ___; they were 5) ___ ____ ___ _____! The parents usually 6) _____ ____ in the kitchen while preparing food. and drinks, while the kids 7) ____ ____ in the living room. They played games and 8) _____ ___ ____ everything going in each other’s lives and by the end of the night, they promised to 9) ____ __ ____ much more often and organised even more parties!

Answer

Having not seen each other in a while, Tina called her family members and asked if they wanted to 1) __get__ __together____. They were a 2) __tight/ tight-knit___ family so they said yes immediately. There were only a couple of the family members who didn’t really 3) _get__ __on/along__. Molly and Jane particularly didn’t 4) __get __ __on/along_; they were 5) _like__ __chalk__ _and__ __cheese___! The parents usually 6) ___hung/chilled __ _out___ in the kitchen while preparing food. and drinks, while the kids 7) ___hung/chilled __ _out___ in the living room. They played games and 8) __caught___ _up__ __on__ everything going in each other’s lives and by the end of the night, they promised to 9) __keep__ _in_ __touch/ contact__ much more often and organised even more parties!