Asking about someones family: Family members and relatives

💬 The final d is said like a t: (kint). Kind and a made-up Kint would sound the same.

💬 Every plural noun takes die, even when the single form uses das or der: das Kind becomes die Kinder.

💬 groß "big" in front of a family word means one generation up: Großmutter, Großvater, Großeltern. One generation down uses Enkel "grandchild".

🇩🇪 Oma is what most Germans actually say, even adults talking about their own grandmother; Großmutter sounds more formal or written.

💬 Said the French way, with no final n sound: (koo-ZANG), nasal at the end. Cousine then sounds the n clearly: (koo-ZEE-nuh).

💬 Mann means both "man" and "husband"; mein Mann makes it clearly "my husband".

💬 Frau means "woman", "wife", and is also the title "Mrs/Ms": Frau Schmidt. meine Frau means "my wife".

🇩🇪 ledig is the official word on forms, meaning never married. In conversation, people more often say Single or ich habe keinen Partner "I don't have a partner".

💬 mein gets an -e before die words: meine Mutter, meine Schwester, but mein Vater.

💬 After ich habe, ein becomes einen for a masculine word like Bruder. Feminine words don't change: eine Schwester.

💬 German has one word for brothers and sisters together, Geschwister. To say you have none, use keine in front of the noun rather than nicht: ich habe keine Kinder "I have no children".

💬 To ask a yes/no question, put the verb first: du hast becomes hast du. Same with Hast du Kinder? "Do you have children?"

💬 No "do" in German questions: just put the verb first. Hast du Kinder?, Hast du Geschwister? "Do you have siblings?"

🇩🇪 This is the du form, for friends or peers. With a new colleague or neighbour, ask Haben Sie Kinder? instead.

🇩🇪 Many Germans find marital status a private topic with people they've just met. Let them bring up a partner first.

💬 ß sounds like a plain s. The word groß rhymes roughly with English "gross": (grohs).

💬 dein takes an -e before die words: deine Familie, deine Schwester, but dein Bruder.

💬 German asks what someone "is called" with heißen: Wie heißt du? "What's your name?". Never Was ist sein Name in everyday speech.

💬 Answer with ist plus the number plus Jahre alt: Sie ist zwölf Jahre alt "She is twelve years old". German says the age with "is", never "has".

💬 wohnen is "live" in the sense of where your home is; leben means "to be alive" or "live a life". Ask where someone lives with wohnen.