实用英语：如何用英语来谈论你的家庭

 　　一个人可能有“brother”或者“sister”。我们也可以叫他们“siblings¹”。“Mom” 和“Dad”是对“parents”的称呼。他们也可以有一个或者两个“sibling”。妈妈的姐妹是“Aunt”；爸爸的兄弟是“Uncle”。如果他们有孩子，他们是你的 “cousins”。

　　John: “Do you have any siblings?”你有兄弟姐妹吗？

　　Sam: “No, I am an only child. What about you?”没有，我是独生子。你呢？

　　John: “I have 2 brothers and a sister!”我有2个兄弟和1个姐妹。

　　Sam: “Wow, a big family… I would have liked a sister”哇噢，好大一家子...我也想要有1个姐妹。

　　John: “Yes, my brothers are both married and have kids. Family gatherings² can be quite lively”是啊，我的哥哥们都结婚了，有孩子了。家庭聚会总是很活泼热闹。

　　Parents of parents are called “grandparents” and the families of people we marry are our “-in-laws”. The person you used to be married to is an “ex”. And should you remain married it’s simply “husband” or “wife”. 父母的父母叫做“grandparents”，和我们结婚的人的家里人是我们的“-in-laws”。你之前的结婚对象叫做“ex”。如果你结婚了，就是 “husband” 或者“wife”。

　　Sam: “So you have nieces and nephews then?”那么你有侄女或侄子吗?

　　John: “Oh yes. My sister divorced³ my brother-in-law before they had any kids but my brothers…”有的，我的姐姐和我姐夫之前离婚了，他们有孩子的，但是我哥哥...

　　Sam: “Your parents must be very proud!”你的父母肯定非常自豪！

　　John: “It’s Gran that is most proud. Grandfather and her love to babysit⁴.”Gran最让我们自豪，祖父和她非常乐意照料孩子。

　　Sam: “Do you get along with your sisters-in-law?”你和你的姐夫相处得怎么样？

　　John: “They are really nice. Suzie, my eldest⁵ brother’s wife is an Olympic swimmer!” 他们非常好。Suzie,我的大嫂是奥林匹克游泳运动员！

　　Dad’s uncle or my parents’ grandparents, would be described as ‘great-’.爸爸的叔叔或者我的父母的祖父母，应该被叫做‘great-’。

　　Sam: “I can’t believe that your grandparents are still alive!”我无法相信你的祖父母还活着！

　　John: “Hah! You should sit down then, because I still have both great grandparents on my mom’s side!”哈哈，你应该坐下来。在我妈妈这边，我还有大祖父母呢。

　　Sam: “Goodness! I have a great uncle living in Canada, but I never see him”太好了！我有一个大伯住在加拿大，但是我从来没有见过他。

　　John: “You should get in touch. It’s great to have a sense of one’s family tree”你应该和他保持联系。了解你的家谱是一件很重要的事。

　　Sam: “Where do you all live?”你们都住在哪里？

　　Families can be described with many interesting adjectives⁶, such as “big”, “small”, “close”, “estranged” or “Open”, “broken”, “nuclear” or “one-child”. And how are the members of your family doing? 有很多有趣的形容词可以用来形容家庭，比如“big”, “small”, “close”, “estranged” or “Open”, “broken”, “nuclear” 或者“one-child”。你的家庭成员是做什么的啊？

　　John: “Well, Troy lives in New York and has really done well”Troy住在纽约，他过得很好。

　　Sam: “What does he do?”他是做什么的？

　　John: “He became a lawyer right out of school and became partner of his firm within 3 years!”他从学校毕业的时候成为了一名律师，后来3年内就成为了律师事务所的合伙人了。

　　Sam: “Wow, he really has gone far quickly”哇噢，他真的发展得很快。

　　John: “My other brothers both work for my dad in the family business.”我其他的兄弟们都为在家族企业中为我爸爸工作。

　　Last, what does your family do for fun together? You might want to talk about “public holidays”, “hobbies” and “likes”. Maybe your family enjoys “picnicking” or “riding bikes”.最后想问问你，你们家平时一起参加的娱乐活动是什么呀？你可能会谈轮到“public holidays”, “hobbies”和“likes”。可能你的家庭喜欢“picnicking”或者“riding bikes”。

　　Sam: ‘Do you have any dreams to travel or work overseas⁷?’你梦想过到国外旅行或者工作吗？

　　John: ‘I am very happy at home. I have a good job and having weekends and public holidays off is very important to me’.我呆在国内觉得很开心。我有一份好工作，有愉快的周末和假期对我而言也很重要。

　　Sam: ‘What do you do in your spare time?’你平时闲暇时间做些什么呢？

　　John: ‘The kids keep me very busy with picnics and sports days at school’经常要带孩子们去野餐，去学校参加体育活动。

　　Sam: ‘Well, I envy⁸ your loving family environment!’我很羡慕你的家庭氛围！

1 siblings   

n.兄弟，姐妹( sibling的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A triplet sleeps amongst its two siblings. 一个三胞胎睡在其两个同胞之间。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She has no way of tracking the donor or her half-siblings down. 她没办法找到那个捐精者或她的兄弟姐妹。 来自时文部分

2 gatherings   

聚集( gathering的名词复数 )； 收集； 采集； 搜集

参考例句：

• His conduct at social gatherings created a lot of comment. 他在社交聚会上的表现引起许多闲话。
• During one of these gatherings a pupil caught stealing. 有一次，其中一名弟子偷窃被抓住。

3 divorced   

adj.离婚的；分开的；不相干的；脱离的v.与…离婚(divorce的过去式和过去分词)；分离；与某人离婚，判某人离婚

参考例句：

• Apparently they are getting divorced soon. 看样子，他们很快就要离婚。
• Many divorced men remarry and have second families. 许多离婚的男子再婚组成了新的家庭。

4 babysit   

v.担任临时保姆，照顾婴儿

参考例句：

• Minna could babysit one night if your father has to work.如果你的父亲得去工作，米娜可以看一晚上孩子。
• I helped him babysit the kids.我帮他看孩子。

5 eldest   

adj.最年长的，最年老的

参考例句：

• The King's eldest son is the heir to the throne.国王的长子是王位的继承人。
• The castle and the land are entailed on the eldest son.城堡和土地限定由长子继承。

6 adjectives   

n.形容词( adjective的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We can form nouns from adjectives. 我们可以用形容词来构成名词。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Attributive adjectives precede the noun. 定语形容词位于名词前。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 overseas   

adj.海外的；adv.在海外

参考例句：

• Her man has been sent overseas by his employers.她的丈夫已被雇主派往海外。
• Many firms are focusing on increasing their markets overseas.许多商行都专注于扩大国外市场。

8 envy   

vt.羡慕，忌妒；n.羡慕，忌妒

参考例句：

• I envy your ability to work so fast.我真羡慕你，能干得这么快。
• I was filled with envy at their adventurous lifestyle.我很羨慕他们敢于冒险的生活方式。