Family is a huge part of, really, every culture in the world. But if you’re learning to talk about family in German, you might need to learn some vocabulary terms that account for some of the diverse family models you’ll encounter in Germany. Though the average German family might involve a married couple with one or two kids, many couples have children out of wedlock, or raise kids as single parents, or have extended families living under one roof. It’s also becoming more common for same-sex couples to raise children together.

Here is a list of essential vocabulary you’ll need to talk about family in German in all of its iterations. To hear how each word is voiced by a native speaker, just press the play button.

Essential Vocab For Family In German

the family — die Familie

the relatives — die Verwandten

the extended family — die entfernten Verwandten

the ancestor — der Vorfahr

the descendant — der Nachkomme

the parents — die Eltern

the mother — die Mutter

the father — der Vater

the children — die Kinder

the daughter — die Tochter

the son — der Sohn

the siblings — die Geschwister

the brother — der Bruder

the sister — die Schwester

the stepchild — das Stiefkind

the half-brother — der Halbbruder

the foster parents — die Pflegeeltern

the guardian — der Vormund

the grandmother — die Großmutter

the grandfather — der Großvater

the grandson — der Enkel

the granddaughter — die Enkelin

the nephew — der Neffe

the niece — die Nichte

the aunt — die Tante

the uncle — der Onkel

the cousin — der Cousin (masc.) / die Cousine (fem.)

the parents-in-law — die Schwiegereltern

the great-grandparents — die Urgroßeltern

the second cousin — der Cousin zweiten Grades