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　　You will probably find it helpful to look at a diagram while you listen. I have uploaded two pdf files with this podcast. You can download them and then open them if you have Adobe¹ reader on your computer. If you can, print them.

　　On the files, you will see what we call a family tree. That means a diagram which shows how different people are related to each other. Lets start with the youngest members of the family. They are Lucy, who is 5 years old, and her little brother Benjamin, who is 3. Lucy and Benjamin are siblings²; but we don’t use the word siblings very much in English. Normally we would just say that Benjamin and Lucy are brother and sister.

　　Lucy and Benjamin’s parents are John and Mary. John is their father. Mary is their mother. Mary has a sister, called Joan, who is married to Harry³. Joan and Harry are Lucy and Benjamin’s aunt and uncle. Joan and Harry have two children of their own – a son called Max and a daughter called Judy. Max and Judy are Lucy and Benjamin’s cousins.

　　Lucy and Benjamin have another uncle, Uncle Lewis, who is their father’s brother. Uncle Lewis is not married and has no children.

　　Lucy and Benjamin have two sets of grandparents. Their father’s parents are James and Susan. They have retired⁴ and moved to Spain, where they live in a flat overlooking a building site with distant views of the sea. They are Lucy and Benjamin’s grandfather and grandmother. The other grandparents are of course their mother’s parents, Fred and Eileen. Fred’s parents, Jack⁵ and Edith are still alive. They are both over 90 years old, and live in an old people’s home. Jack talks for hours about what he did during the Second World War. Edith sits and says “Yes, dear” from time to time. Jack and Edith are Lucy and Benjamin’s great-grandparents.

　　Now look at the second pdf file. It shows the same family, but from the point of view of John and Mary. We already know about their children – their daughter Lucy and their son Benjamin. Mary has a sister, Joan, who is married to Harry. Harry is Mary’s brother-in-law. (“In-law” means the relationship is through marriage – Harry is her brother-in-law because he is married to her sister). You remember that Joan and Harry have two children – Max is John and Mary’s nephew, and Judy is their niece.

　　Fred and Eileen are Mary’s parents. They are also John’s father-in-law and mother-in-law. (We sometimes say “parents-in-law”, but like “sibling” it isn’t very common). Fred and Eileen call John their son-in-law. And, of course, John’s parents call Mary their daughter-in-law.

　　Incidentally, the plural⁶ of “daughter-in-law” is “daughters-in-law” not “daughter-in-laws”! And similarly with the other “in-law” relationships.

　　Complicated, isn’t it, even in a simple family like this one. Why not draw a diagram of your own family and practice talking about the relationships of the various family members. I shall find something a little more light-hearted for the next podcast.

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