Famous Families
Three families, one big family, and a family tree with fifteen people in it. Learn eleven family words and the tiny apostrophe that connects them: Luke is Haley's brother.
Warm-up
Short answers. Tap a card when you have answered it.
Family words are the first thing you use in a real conversation. Nobody asks about the present perfect at a party. Everybody asks how many brothers and sisters you have.
Useful language
Family words
Click a word, then click its meaning. Correct pairs turn green. The audio button says the word.
Complete the sentences
Click a word in the bank, then click a gap. Click a filled gap to clear it.
- Lucy is _____ to Mark. He is her husband.
- Tina's mom and dad are her _____.
- Kate and Ben have two boys and one girl. They have three _____.
- Emma's mom has two children: Emma and a boy, Nick. Nick is Emma's _____.
- Lisa and Rosa are girls, and they have the same mom and dad. Lisa is Rosa's _____.
- Rose has a son, David. David has a little girl, Amy. Amy is Rose's _____.
- Kim is 15. She came to live with Mr. and Mrs. Hall when she was 8. She is their _____ daughter.
- My sister is a mom now. Her _____ is two months old, and he sleeps all day.
Three families, one family
Read slowly and follow the names. The audio button reads each part aloud.
Modern Family is a funny TV show about three families. They are different, but they are all part of one big family.
Jay and Gloria are married. Jay has two children from his first marriage, and Gloria has one son, Manny. Together they have a baby, Joe.
Mitchell and Cameron are married too. They have one adopted daughter, Lily. Mitchell is one of Jay's two children.
Claire and Phil are the third family. They have three children: Haley, Alex and Luke. Claire is Jay's daughter and Mitchell's sister.
Haley says: "My name is Haley Dunphy. I have a brother — his name is Luke. I have a sister — her name is Alex. My mom is Claire, my dad is Phil."
"I have two babies. Their names are Poppy and George, and their dad is Dylan. Poppy and George have an aunt, Alex, and an uncle, Luke. I love my family!"
So for Claire: Phil is her husband, DeDe is her mother, Jay is her father, Gloria is her stepmother, Poppy is her granddaughter and George is her grandson.
Multiple choice
Click an answer and you get the result right away, with the reason.
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How many families are there in the show?
Three families — and all of them are one big family.
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Who is married to Gloria?
And it is Jay's second marriage.
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Who is Gloria's son from before?
Joe is the baby of Jay and Gloria together. Manny came before.
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Who is Jay and Gloria's baby?
The only child they have together.
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Mitchell and Cameron have…
Her name is Lily.
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Who are Claire and Phil's children?
Three children, and Haley is the oldest.
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Claire is Jay's…
And Mitchell is his son. They are the two children from his first marriage.
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Who is Haley's brother?
And Alex is her sister.
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Who are Poppy and George?
Their dad is Dylan, and their grandmother is Claire.
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Alex is Poppy's…
Alex is Haley's sister, and Haley is Poppy's mother — so Alex is the aunt.
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Gloria is Claire's…
Claire's mother is DeDe. Gloria is her father's second wife.
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George is Claire's…
He is her daughter's son, so one generation further down.
The apostrophe: Haley's brother
English does it backwards. Portuguese says o irmão da Haley. English says Haley's brother — owner first, thing second. That order feels wrong for a month, and then it feels normal forever.
- The shape: Luke is Haley's brother. = He is her brother.
- Owner first: Jay's daughter, never
the daughter of Jayin normal speech. - Two names, one apostrophe: Mitchell and Cam's daughter — the 's goes only on the last name.
- Careful with the plural: my parents' house (two parents) but my brother's house (one brother).
- Not the same as is: Claire's tired = Claire is tired. Claire's husband = the husband of Claire. Only the next word tells you which.
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Luke is ___ brother.
The owner takes the apostrophe and goes first.
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Which one sounds natural in English?
The first is grammatically possible but nobody says it about people.
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Lily is ___ daughter.
One daughter, two fathers, one apostrophe — and it sits on the second name.
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Gloria is ___ wife.
Without the apostrophe, Jays would mean more than one Jay.
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What does "Claire's tired" mean?
Here 's is the verb, not the possessive. The word after it tells you which one it is.
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Two parents, one house:
The plural already ends in s, so the apostrophe goes after it and nothing else is added.
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Manny is ___ son.
Same shape every time: name, apostrophe, s, then the family word.
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Which sentence is WRONG?
If you use of, you need the as well — but the first one is what people actually say.
Every relationship works both ways
- husband ↔ wife · Phil is Claire's husband. Claire is Phil's wife.
- mother / father ↔ son / daughter · Jay is Claire's father. Claire is Jay's daughter.
- brother ↔ sister · Mitchell is Claire's brother. Claire is Mitchell's sister.
- grandmother ↔ granddaughter / grandson · Poppy is Claire's granddaughter. Claire is Poppy's grandmother.
- parents ↔ children · DeDe and Jay are Claire's parents. Claire is their daughter.
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Claire is Phil's wife. So Phil is Claire's ___ .
The married pair: wife and husband.
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Haley is Claire's daughter. So Claire is Haley's ___ .
One step up the family tree.
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Jay is Gloria's husband. So Gloria is Jay's ___ .
The same pair as the first question, the other way round.
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Poppy is Claire's granddaughter. So Claire is Poppy's ___ .
Two steps up: Poppy's mother is Haley, and Haley's mother is Claire.
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Luke is Phil's son. So Phil is Luke's ___ .
Father and son, the other way round.
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Claire is Mitchell's sister. So Mitchell is Claire's ___ .
Same generation, so brother and sister.
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Lily is Mitchell and Cam's daughter. So they are her ___ .
Two people who have a child are that child's parents.
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George is Phil's grandson. So Phil is George's ___ .
Grandson and grandfather. The word grand means one more generation.
Now say it the other way
Finish the second sentence. Example: Claire is Phil's wife. Phil is → Claire's husband.
Two things change every time. The names swap places, and the family word changes to its partner. Do the names first, then the word.
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aHaley is Claire's daughter. Claire is
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bJay is Gloria's husband. Gloria is
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cPoppy is Claire's granddaughter. Claire is
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dLuke is Phil's son. Phil is
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eLily is Mitchell and Cam's daughter. Mitchell and Cam are
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fManny is Gloria's son. Gloria is
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gGeorge is Phil's grandson. Phil is
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hClaire is Mitchell's sister. Mitchell is
Who is who?
Answer with He's or She's and the relationship. Example: Who is Joe? → He's Jay and Gloria's son.
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aWho is Manny? (Gloria / son)
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bWho is Lily? (Mitchell and Cam / daughter)
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cWho is Phil? (Claire / husband)
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dWho is Alex? (Haley / sister)
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eWho is Luke? (Claire and Phil / son)
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fWho is DeDe? (Claire / mother)
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gWho is Dylan? (Poppy and George / father)
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hWho is Gloria? (Claire / stepmother)
My family tree
Full sentences with 's. Say the name first, then the relationship.
Useful language
My family
40–70 words. Write about six people in your family: name, relationship and one detail about each. Use 's at least four times, like Haley does in the reading.
My results
Check your score, then copy it and send it to your teacher on WhatsApp.
One job for this week. Draw your family tree on one page and write every relationship in English under it. Ten minutes once, and you will have the words ready for every conversation you have this year.