My Family

Meine Familie — My Family!#

Every family is special and different, and in German, families are called Familien (say it like: fah-MEE-lee-en). One family is die Familie (say it like: dee fah-MEE-lee-eh). Let's learn the words for different family members in German!

Parents — Eltern#

Your parents are called Eltern (say it like: EL-tern) in German.

Mama and Papa sound almost exactly the same in German and English! Children all over the world use these warm, friendly words. Mutter sounds like "mutter" in English, but it means "mother." And Vater is where the English word "father" actually comes from!

Siblings — Geschwister#

Brothers and sisters together are called Geschwister (say it like: geh-SHVIS-ter).

Bruder sounds similar to the English word "brother"! And Schwester is where the English word "sister" comes from — they are cousins just like the languages themselves!

Grandparents — Grosseltern#

Oma and Opa are just as warm and cozy in German as "grandma" and "grandpa" in English. Gross means "big" or "great" in German — so Grossmutter literally means "great mother"!

What a wonderful discovery — German family words are not so different from English at all!