English Vocabulary in Use Pre-intermediate and Intermediate » Unit 13: Family and friends

Word List
  • altogether
  • best friend
  • close family
  • cousin
  • current
  • elder
  • ever since
  • ex-girlfriend/wife (etc.)
  • friendship
  • mother/brother/son-in-law
  • nephew
  • niece
  • old friend
  • only child
  • relations
  • relatives
  • remarry
  • sister-in-law
  • stepfather
  • twin(s)
  • uncle
  • widow
  • get married to sb
  • get on (with sb)
  • get to know sb
  • mate
Exercises

13.1 ‣ Look at the family tree, then complete the sentences below.

  1. Simon died two years ago, so Cath is a .
  2. Leyla is Cath’s _____.
  3. Tom is Cath’s _____.
  4. Cath is Meg’s _____.
  5. Simon was Brian’s _____.
  6. Tom is Leyla’s _____ brother.
  7. Emily is Leyla’s _____.
  8. Emily is an _____ child.

13.2 ‣ Which words are being defined?

  1. Your boyfriend is the one that you have now.
  2. _____ means get married again.
  3. _____ are all the members of your family.
  4. Your _____ friend is the one you like more than any other.
  5. An _____ friend is someone you have known for a long time.
  6. _____ are two children born to one mother at the same time.
  7. _____ is an informal word for a friend.
  8. _____ is the noun when two people are friends.
  9. Your _____ is the man who is married to your mother but is not your father.

13.3 ‣ Complete the text.

“I was still going out with James when I met my husband, Ben. We 1 got to know each other because we went to the same gym twice a week. We went out with each other for about 18 months, and we got 2_____ three years ago, so 3_____ we’ve been a couple for almost five years. We’ve continued to go to the gym ever 4_____ we got married, and I still quite often see James when we’re there. It’s nice if you can still 5_____ with an 6_____ -boyfriend or -girlfriend.”

13.4 ‣

Over to you

Answer the questions for you, then, if possible, ask a friend and write their answers.

  1. Are you an only child? If not, do you have elder brothers or sisters?
    _____
  2. Do you get on well with other members of your family?
    _____
  3. Are you a close family?
    _____
  4. Who was the last person in your family to get married? When?
    _____
  5. Who’s your best friend?
    _____
  6. How long have you known him/her?
    _____
  7. How did you get to know each other?
    _____
Answer Key
A ‣ Relatives*

My father died when I was nine, and so my mother was a widow1 with four young children. She remarried five years later, so now I have a stepfather. As he is not my real father, I call him by his first name, which is Dieter. I’ve got an elder2 brother called Thomas and two younger sisters, Anya and Claudia, who are twins3. We’re a close family4.

My mother is an only child5, but I’ve got two uncles on my father’s side. One is married with two children, and the other is married with three children, so altogether I have five cousins. I get on well with6 Uncle Rolf, and he always tells me I’m his favourite nephew. Of his nieces, I think he likes Anya best.

Recently my brother Thomas got married. His wife’s name is Sabine, so I now have a sister-in-law7 as well.

* members of your family; syn relations
1a woman whose husband has died
2older
3two children born to one mother at the same time
4a family who like each other and stay together a lot
5without brothers or sisters
6have a good relationship with
7(also mother/brother/son-in-law, etc.)

Common mistakes

It’s more common and more natural to say ‘Thomas’s wife’ (NOT the wife of Thomas) or ‘Anna’s younger sister’ (NOT the younger sister of Anna).

B ‣ Friends

My best friend is Florian, an old school friend1. We got to know each other2 when we were in the same class at school. We’ve been mates3 ever since4, and our friendship is very important to both of us. He spends a lot of time with my family, and his current5 girlfriend is actually one of Thomas’s ex-girlfriends. But we all get on really well.

Language help

We use the prefix ex- for a relationship we had in the past but do not have now, e.g. The children stay with my ex-husband at the weekend; I saw an ex-girlfriend of mine yesterday.

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