German - Family and Relatives

Lesson 53 of 158

Happy learners talking about family in German — family vocabulary and simple sentences for A2 learners.

Goal: Talking about where people live, ages, and relationships

Free German lessons with guided practice, audio, and speaking support.

Welcome to Lesson 53! Ready to talk about family in German? We'll practice short everyday phrases you can use in conversations with friends and new acquaintances.

Level A2: In this lesson you’ll learn and practice common ways to talk about family: where relatives live, ages, who you grew up with, closeness, how often you see people, marital status of parents, parents' jobs, and identifying a brother-in-law. CEFR-aligned phrases are shown, heard, and practiced with short quizzes and speaking prompts.

After this lesson you'll be able to:

  • Say where a family member lives and give a simple location (A2).
  • Give a family member's age and ask about ages.
  • Talk about who you grew up with and express closeness or how often you see relatives.
Two people smiling and pointing to a map while saying where relatives live — practicing German family phrases.

Ready? Let's go!

When you tap play on phrases, we track your progress through this lesson.

1. Reading + Listening Practice

Hear core phrases, repeat aloud.

Mein ___ wohnt in ___.

My ___ lives in ___.

Meaning: My ___ lives in ___.

When to use: Say this to tell where a family member lives. Use the correct possessive (mein/meine) and the right preposition for places (usually in + place).

Tip: Remember country names: some need an article with ‚in‘ (in der Schweiz) while city names usually don’t (in Berlin).

Mein Onkel wohnt in Berlin.
My uncle lives in Berlin.
Meine Cousine wohnt in der Schweiz.
My cousin lives in Switzerland.

Mein ___ ist ___ Jahre alt.

My ___ is ___ years old.

Meaning: My ___ is ___ years old.

When to use: Give the age of a family member. Use ‚Jahre alt‘ for more than one year: ‚zwei Jahre alt‘, ‚30 Jahre alt‘.

Tip: Beginners sometimes say ‚Jahr alt‘ after numbers other than one; use ‚Jahre alt‘ for plural (2, 3, 10...).

Mein Bruder ist 30 Jahre alt.
My brother is 30 years old.
Meine Schwester ist acht Jahre alt.
My sister is eight years old.

Ich bin mit ___ aufgewachsen.

I grew up with my ___.

Meaning: I grew up with my ___.

When to use: Describe who was in your household or who you spent childhood with. Use the dative form for the family word (meinem Bruder, meiner Mutter, meinen Großeltern).

Ich bin mit meinen Großeltern aufgewachsen.
I grew up with my grandparents.
Ich bin mit meiner Schwester aufgewachsen.
I grew up with my sister.

Ich stehe ___ sehr nah.

I am close to my ___.

Meaning: I am very close to my ___.

When to use: Express emotional closeness. The family word should be in dative: ‚Ich stehe meiner Schwester sehr nah.‘

Tip: Use dative after ‚stehen ... nahe‘ (meiner Mutter, meinem Vater), not accusative.

Ich stehe meiner Mutter sehr nah.
I am very close to my mother.
Ich stehe meinem Bruder sehr nah.
I am very close to my brother.

Wir verstehen uns gut.

We get along well.

Meaning: We get along well.

When to use: Use this to describe a good relationship with family or friends: ‚Wir verstehen uns gut.‘

Wir verstehen uns gut, obwohl wir verschieden sind.
We get along well, even though we are different.
Meine Eltern und ich verstehen uns gut.
My parents and I get along well.

Ich sehe ___ nicht so oft.

I don't see my ___ very often.

Meaning: I don’t see my ___ very often.

When to use: Say how often you meet or visit a relative. The family word is usually accusative (meinen Vater, meine Tante).

Ich sehe meine Großeltern nicht so oft.
I don’t see my grandparents very often.
Ich sehe meinen Onkel nicht so oft.
I don’t see my uncle very often.

Meine Eltern sind geschieden.

My parents are divorced.

Meaning: My parents are divorced.

When to use: Describe parents’ marital status in a neutral way: ‚Meine Eltern sind geschieden.‘

Meine Eltern sind geschieden, aber wir feiern trotzdem Weihnachten zusammen.
My parents are divorced, but we still celebrate Christmas together.
Seit sie geschieden sind, sprechen meine Eltern freundlicher miteinander.
Since they divorced, my parents speak more kindly with each other.

Was machen deine Eltern beruflich?

What do your parents do?

Meaning: What do your parents do for work?

When to use: Ask informally about someone’s parents’ occupations. For formal speech use ‚Ihre Eltern‘.

Was machen deine Eltern beruflich? - Mein Vater ist Lehrer.
What do your parents do for work? - My father is a teacher.
Was machen deine Eltern beruflich? - Meine Mutter ist Ärztin.
What do your parents do for work? - My mother is a doctor.

___ ist mein Schwager.

___ is my brother-in-law.

Meaning: ___ is my brother-in-law.

When to use: Name someone who is related by marriage: ‚Thomas ist mein Schwager.‘ For sister-in-law: ‚meine Schwägerin‘.

Thomas ist mein Schwager.
Thomas is my brother-in-law.
Peter ist mein Schwager; er ist mit meiner Schwester verheiratet.
Peter is my brother-in-law; he is married to my sister.

2. Conversational Listening Practice

Hear phrases in a real mini-conversation.

Anna and David talk about family: upbringing, closeness, and where relatives live.

Anna and David having a short conversation about who they grew up with and where relatives live in German.

What are Anna and David mainly talking about?

Portrait of Anna in a German lesson dialogue

Anna

Ich bin mit meinem Bruder aufgewachsen.

I grew up with my brother.

Portrait of David in a German lesson dialogue

David

Ich stehe meinem Bruder sehr nah.

I am very close to my brother.

Portrait of Anna in a German lesson dialogue

Anna

Wir verstehen uns gut, aber ich sehe meinen Onkel nicht so oft.

We get along well, but I don't see my uncle very often.

Portrait of David in a German lesson dialogue

David

Wo wohnt dein Onkel?

Where does your uncle live?

Portrait of Anna in a German lesson dialogue

Anna

Mein Onkel wohnt in Hamburg.

My uncle lives in Hamburg.

Portrait of David in a German lesson dialogue

David

Was machen deine Eltern beruflich?

What do your parents do for work?

3. Guided Practice

Quizzes and matching to lock in meaning.

Which German sentence means "We get along well."?

Which sentence asks about someone's parents' jobs?

Which sentence means "I grew up with my grandparents."?

Which sentence says "My parents are divorced."?

My brother is twenty years old.

Anna fragt: 'Wie alt ist dein Bruder?' David antwortet: '___.'

I grew up with my sister.

Die Lehrerin fragt: 'Wer ist mit einer Schwester aufgewachsen?' Anna sagt: '___.'

I don't see my uncle very often.

Mark erzählt: 'Ich habe einen Onkel in Spanien.' Dann sagt er: '___.'

Match the core phrases

Match the extra phrases

4. Speaking Practice

Say phrases yourself (mic/recording).

Recording stays on your device only. Check speech uses your browser's speech tools when available.

Say this phrase out loud:

Mein ___ wohnt in ___.

My ___ lives in ___.

Say this phrase out loud:

Mein ___ ist ___ Jahre alt.

My ___ is ___ years old.

Say this phrase out loud:

Ich bin mit ___ aufgewachsen.

I grew up with my ___.

Say this phrase out loud:

Ich stehe ___ sehr nah.

I am very close to my ___.

Say this phrase out loud:

Wir verstehen uns gut.

We get along well.

Say this phrase out loud:

Ich sehe ___ nicht so oft.

I don't see my ___ very often.

Say this phrase out loud:

Meine Eltern sind geschieden.

My parents are divorced.

Say this phrase out loud:

Was machen deine Eltern beruflich?

What do your parents do for work?

Say this phrase out loud:

___ ist mein Schwager.

___ is my brother-in-law.