HOW TO TALK ABOUT YOUR FAMILY IN ENGLISH
Do you have a big family? Do you have a similar appearance or personality to your siblings or parents?
Talking about family is a common topic in everyday conversation and a great way to get to know someone better. Maybe you have taken a chance and started a conversation with someone new? But you want to have a deeper conversation. To help you build your fluency and talk about your family I’m going to teach you 4 useful phrases for this topic.
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“I TAKE AFTER my mother”
To TAKE AFTER someone means to have a similar appearance or personality. We usually only use this to talk about people we resemble in our family.
“I take after my father. We both have dark hair and big eyes”
“She takes after her grandfather in her talent for design”
“He is so good at painting and arts. He takes after his uncle in that way”
To talk about physical appearance, you can say you LOOK LIKE someone.
“I look like my Mum. We’ve got the same colour skin”
“Sarah looks a lot like her sister”
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“I GET ON well with my sister”
To GET ON WELL with someone (or just GET ON with someone) means to have a good relationship with that person
“My sister and I get on really well”
“Do you get on well with your brother?”
“My Dad and I don’t get on well at all!”
3. “I was BROUGHT UP by my grandparents”
To BRING UP or be BROUGHT UP (passive) means to take care of and educate a child.
Parents BRING UP their children.
Children are BROUGHT UP by their parents.
“David was brought up with good morals”
“I was brought up in rural South Australia”
“My mother brought me up well”
This phrasal verb can be separated
Bring up someone or Bring someone up.
Brought up by someone or Brought someone up. 
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“It runs in the family”
This idiom means that a characteristic appears in many (or all) of the family members. It could refer to existing members of the family or it can be used to talk about a trait that is passed on from generation to generation.
It is often used in a joking manner.
EG;
“Musical ability runs in our family. We all play a musical instrument”
“Mum is always late to everything!” “I know! It runs in the family!”
“My brothers and I all have big noses! It runs in the family!”
The new “Family and Relationships” program will be coming soon! You can practice these phrases with a native English teacher.
Book here.
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