1. Tom's family
Actividad de lectura
As you already know Tom, now it's time to meet some of his relatives. Read the following description that Tom gives of his family.
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My family has 5 members. My sister, my brother, my parents and I of course. Adapted from:http://lang-8.com/81284/journals/362336 |
Now that you know Tom's family, write in your notebook all the words used to describe his relatives' character and appearance. After doing this, click below to check your answer.
Reflexión
One day after Tom finished his studies at university, his mother told him the secret of their family: Their ancestors came from the other side of the Atlantic. Anna presented him with a family photo showing the members of their family. Work in pairs and try to guess who's who in the photo below.
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Imagen de Kim Scarborough en Flickr bajo licencia CC |
Rellenar huecos
Read the text about the family tree and fill in the gaps with the following words. There are two words you don't need to use.
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parents - male - daughter - uncles - aunts - siblings - niece - nephew - cousins - in-laws - brother-in-law - father-in-law - mother-in-law - grandparents - great-uncle - grandchildren - daughter-in-law - great-aunt - sister-in-law - great-grandmother - son-in-law - step-mother - biological - half-sisters - step-sisters - relatives - grandson |
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Your family tree Your closest relatives are your : your mother and father ; and your ( brothers or sisters ). If your mother or father is not an only child , you also have and / or . An aunt is the sister of your mother or father, while an uncle is the brother of your mother or father. Your female child is called your , and your child is your son. If your aunts or uncles have children, they are your first . (In English, the word cousin is used, whether the cousin is female or male.) Your female cousin is your mother (or father's) , while a male cousin is the of your mother and father. In-laws When you marry, your husband (or wife's) family become your . The mother of your spouse (husband or wife) is your and his or her father becomes your . The term in-law is also used to describe your relationship with the spouses of your siblings. So the husband of your sister becomes your , while the sister of your husband becomes your . If you are a woman, you become the of your husband's parents, and if you are a man, you become the of your wife's parents. The same term in-law is used for all generations. The husband of your aunt is still your mother's brother-in-law, for example. Grandparents / grandchildren The parents of your parents are your – grandmother and grandfather. You are their – either a granddaughter or a grandson . If your grandparent has a sister, she is your . If your grandparent has a brother, he is your . (And you are either his or her great-niece or great-nephew ). The mother of your grandmother or grandfather is your . The father is your great-grandfather. If you go back another generation, the grandmother of your grandmother / grandfather is your great-great-grandmother. The grandfather of your grandparents becomes your great-great-grandfather. Second families If your mother or father remarries, you can acquire a new family and set of relatives. For example, if your father marries a second wife, she becomes your . Any children she already has become your or step-brothers. If your mother or father remarries and has children, they become your half-brothers or . You might also hear people talking about their brother / sister etc, to mean a brother who is related by blood, rather than by marriage. Source: http://www.english-at-home.com/vocabulary/talking-about-your-family/ |
Watch the video below about describing people in real situations.
Actividad de lectura
After watching the video above, make notes of the adjectives used to describe people and give synonyms and antonyms for these ones:
| energetic, easy-going, handsome, compatible, ravishing, sexy, practical, kind, considerate, embarrassing, calm, cute, hard-working, artsy, determined, cool |
The following positive and negative Personality Adjectives are in common use in the English language:
| POSITIVE PERSONALITY ADJECTIVES | NEGATIVE PERSONALITY ADJECTIVES | ||||||
| A - E | E - J | J - R | R - Z | A - D | D - H | I - S | S -W |
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adaptable |
efficient elated eminent enchanting encouraging energetic entertaining enthusiastic excellent excited exclusive exuberant fabulous fair faithful fantastic fearless fine frank friendly funny generous gentle glorious good happy harmonious helpful hilarious honorable impartial industrious instinctive jolly |
joyous lucky kind kind-hearted knowledgeable level likeable lively lovely loving mature modern nice obedient painstaking peaceful perfect placid plausible pleasant plucky productive protective proud punctual quiet receptive reflective relieved resolute responsible rhetorical righteous |
romantic
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abrasive |
disagreeable disillusioned disturbed domineering draconian embarrassed envious erratic evasive evil faded fanatical fierce filthy finicky flashy flippant foolish forgetful frantic fretful frightened furtive greedy grieving grouchy gruesome grumpy guarded gullible helpless hesitant homeless horrible hungry |
ignorant ill irresolute jealous jittery lacking lazy lonely malicious materialistic mean mysterious naive nasty naughty nervous noisy obnoxious outrageous panicky pathetic possessive quarrelsome repulsive ruthless sad scary secretive selfish silly slow sneaky snobbish sore spendthrift squeamish |
stingy strange sulky tacky tense terrible testy thick-skinned thoughtless threatening tight timid tired tiresome troubled truculent typical undesirable unsuitable unsure upset uptight vague vengeful venomous volatile voracious vulgar wary wasteful weak weary wicked worried worthless wretched |
These adjectives are common to talk about people’s appearance:
| ADJECTIVES FOR PEOPLE'S APPEARANCE | |||
| adorable adventurous aggressive alert attractive average beautiful blue-eyed bloody blushing bright clean |
clear cloudy colorful crowded cute dark drab distinct dull elegant excited fancy filthy |
glamorous gleaming gorgeous graceful grotesque handsome homely light long magnificent misty motionless muddy old-fashioned |
plain poised precious quaint shiny smoggy sparkling spotless stormy strange ugly ugliest unsightly unusual wide-eyed |
For adjectives which describe physical features you can have a look at the following webpage: http://www.iluenglish.com/describing-people-a-persons-physical-appearance/
Para saber más
Describe yourself using the adjectives you have learnt above. You can record your monologue and send it to your partner and you can also listen to your partner's monologue. This task will last between 3 and 4 minutes at the most.
Para saber más
Remember when describing someone's physical appearance or character we must bear in mind a few words concerning physical description and personality. We have to differentiate between "to look", "to look like" and "to be like". When do we use each of them?
- Look + adjective: We use the verb "to look" followed by an adjective when asking about physical appearance. For example: She looks younger than me. This cake looks delicious but it's horrible.
- Look like + noun: We use the verb "to look like" followed by a noun when asking about physical appearance too. For example: What's that building? It looks like a factory. What do you look like? (Cómo eres?) I am tall and thin. / I am short and fat.
- We use the verb "to be like" when asking about personality. For example: What are you like? I am a shy person / I'm an extrovert person.
Now, click here to do an exercise about look and look like.