German Relatives & Extended Family Vocabulary
This set covers the vocabulary you need to talk about extended family in German, from die Großeltern (grandparents) down to less obvious words like das Mündel (a ward) and der Vormund (a guardian). One trap for English speakers: der Verwandte doesn't just mean "relative" in the loose sense English uses it, and it declines like an adjective (ein Verwandter, die Verwandten), which trips people up long after they've learned the word itself.
Learn these 26 words
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All 26 words
plural: die Großeltern
grandparents
Meine Großeltern leben in Japan. — My grandparents live in Japan.
plural: die Großmütter
grandmother
Meine Großmutter heißt Eva. — My grandmother is called Eva.
plural: die Großväter
grandfather
Mein Großvater ist schon 80. — My grandfather is already 80.
plural: die Omas
grandma
Meine Oma ist schon tot. — My grandma is already dead.
plural: die Opas
grandpa
Mein Opa heißt Hans. — My grandpa is called Hans.
plural: die Verwandten
relative
Peter besucht seine Verwandten in Polen. — Peter is visiting his relatives in Poland.
plural: die Cousins
cousin (male)
Meine Cousine wohnt jetzt in Brasilien. — My cousin now lives in Brazil.
plural: die Cousinen
cousin (female)
Meine Cousine wohnt jetzt in Brasilien. — My cousin now lives in Brazil.
plural: die Enkel
grandson
Alle meine Enkel gehen schon zur Schule. — All my grandsons already go to school.
plural: die Enkelinnen
granddaughter
Alle meine Enkel gehen schon zur Schule. — All my granddaughters already go to school.
plural: die Neffen
nephew
Meine Schwester hat zwei Kinder. Meine Neffen sind drei und fünf Jahre alt. — My sister has two children. My nephews are three and five years old.
plural: die Nichten
niece
Die Tasche ist ein Geschenk von meiner Nichte. — The bag is a gift from my niece.
plural: die Onkel
uncle
Nächste Woche fahre ich zu meinem Onkel nach Berlin. — Next week I'm going to visit my uncle in Berlin.
in-law
Wir besuchen morgen meine Schwiegereltern. — We are visiting my in-laws tomorrow.
plural: die Tanten
aunt
Die Familie meiner Mutter ist sehr groß, daher habe ich viele Tanten. — My mother's family is very large, so I have many aunts.
- verwandtB1
related, akin
Sind Sie mit Frau Meyer verwandt? — Are you related to Mrs. Meyer?
to descend / derive from
Die Familie stammt aus Österreich ab. — The family descends from Austria.
plural: die Schützlinge
protege / client
Er kümmerte sich liebevoll um seinen Schützling. — He cared lovingly for his protégé.
plural: die Verwandten
relative
Meine Verwandten besuchen mich oft. — My relatives visit me often.
plural: die Vettern
cousin
Mein Vetter und ich spielten zusammen im Garten. — My cousin and I played together in the garden.
plural: die Vormünder
a guardian / tutor
Der Vormund kümmert sich um das Kind. — The guardian looks after the child.
plural: die Abstammungen
a lineage / ancestry
Die Abstammung lässt sich bis zum Mittelalter zurückverfolgen. — The ancestry can be traced back to the Middle Ages.
plural: die Ahnenreihen
ancestry
Die Ahnenreihe zeigt viele berühmte Personen. — The ancestry shows many famous people.
plural: die Mündel
a ward a person, usually a minor, under the care and control of a guardian appointed by their parents or a court.
Das Mündel des Vormunds ging zur Schule. — The ward of the guardian went to school.
plural: die Sippen
clan / family / kinship / group
Die ganze Sippe kam zur Hochzeit zusammen. — The entire clan came together for the wedding.
plural: die Ziehschwestern
a foster sister
Die Ziehschwester wuchs bei einer anderen Familie auf. — The foster sister grew up with a different family.
How to learn this set
Notice that Schwieger- is a prefix, not a standalone word: it attaches to Mutter, Vater, Tochter, and Sohn to build the entire in-law vocabulary, so learn the pattern once rather than four separate words. Also drill der Neffe and der Verwandte together, since both add endings outside the nominative case (den Neffen, dem Verwandten) and native speakers notice immediately when a learner forgets this. For the family-tree abstractions, chain die Abstammung, die Ahnenreihe, and abstammen as one group: the verb literally means "to stem down from," which makes the noun forms easier to remember.
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Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between der Cousin and der Vetter?
Both mean male cousin. Der Vetter is the older, more formal word and is fading from everyday use; der Cousin (borrowed from French, pronounced koo-ZANG) is what most Germans say today. Die Cousine is the female cousin either way.
Is der Neffe declined differently from other nouns?
Yes. Der Neffe is a weak noun, so it takes -n in every case except the nominative singular: den Neffen, dem Neffen, des Neffen. The same pattern applies to der Verwandte, though that one declines like an adjective instead.
How do you say mother-in-law and father-in-law in German?
Attach Schwieger- to the regular family word: die Schwiegermutter (mother-in-law), der Schwiegervater (father-in-law), die Schwiegertochter (daughter-in-law), der Schwiegersohn (son-in-law). Schwieger- itself never stands alone.
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