How to talk about your family in Russian

Мама is the first word that many children say. – Mom is the first word that many children pronounce.

Мамочка, я тебя очень люблю! — Mommy, I love you very much!

When a woman and a man marry, they automatically acquire other relatives. Sometimes one of the spouses may already have children by this time, they also become relatives to the other spouse. There are also names for these family members each. For example, золовка (husband’s sister), свояченица (wife’s sister) and невестка (жена брата) in English will sound the same sister-in-law. In Russian, each relative and daughter-in-law is called differently.  It is the same with other non-blood relatives:

• шурин (wife’s brother), зять (sister’s husband), свояк (wife’s sister’s husband) и деверь (the husband brother) — brother-in-law;
• тесть (wife’s father), свёкор (husband’s father) — father-in-law;

• тёща (wife’s mother), свекровь (husband’s mother) — mother-in-law;

• невестка (son’s wife) — daughter-in-law;

• зять (daughter’s husband) — son-in-law;

• пасынок — stepson;

• падчерица — stepdaughter;

• отчим — stepfather;

• мачеха — stepmother;

• сводный брат или сестра — stepsibling.

Моя теща — удивительный человек! — My mother-in-law is an amazing person!

Моя невестка недолюбливает меня. — My sister-in-law doesn’t like me.

To introduce your family members, use a simple design:

• Это мой брат. — This is my brother.
• Это мои родители. — These are my parents.

The second option is to use the possession construct:

• У меня есть сестра. — I have a sister.
• У меня нет детей. — I don’t have any children.

To talk about family, remember possessive pronouns and the nouns genitive. The possessive pronoun must match the noun gender with which it is used: мой папа, твоя мама, наши родители.

You need the genitive case in Russian to talk about kinship: жена (whom?) брата, сестра (whom?) мужа, родители (whom?) Анны и Петра.

In addition, a few more words and expressions that will help you talk about family in Russian:

• В моей семье пять человек. — There are five people in my family.

• У меня большая семья. — I have a large family.

• У меня маленькая семья: я и сын. — I have a small family: me and my son.

• У меня есть папа, мама и сестра. — I have a father, mother, and sister.

• Я очень люблю своих родителей. — I really love my parents.

• родственники — relatives;

• троюродный брат / троюродная сестра — second cousin;

• семья — family;

• отношения — relationship;

• члены семьи — family members;

• прабабушка — great-grandmother;

• прадедушка — great-grandfather;

• дети — children;

• внуки — grandchildren;

• женатый / замужняя — married;

• холостой / холостая  — single.

This is what your story about your family might look like:

У меня большая семья. У меня есть родители, три сестры, два брата, много племянников и двоюродных братьев и сестер. Мои сестры замужем, а братья холостые. Мои родители — уже бабушка и дедушка, у них есть внуки. У нас дружная семья и хорошие отношения. / I have a large family. I have parents, three sisters, two brothers, many nephews and cousins. My sisters are married and my brothers are single. My parents are already grandparents, they have grandchildren. We have a friendly family and a good relationship.

To memorise all your relatives’ names in Russian more quickly, draw your family genealogical tree and sign the family members. A clear example will help you to understand the subject more quickly.