My Family Members

1Who is that in the photo?

Uwase brings a photograph to school. At break time everyone crowds around her desk.

"Who is that?" asks Gatete, pointing at a tall man. Uwase opens her mouth - and stops. Is it his father or her father? Which little word does she need?

Today you learn the family words, and the four small words that tell everyone who belongs to whom.

2The people at home

Read each word slowly. As you read it, think of the real person in your own family.

• mother - the woman who is your parent. At home you may call her Mama.
• father - the man who is your parent. At home you may call him Papa.
• sister - a girl with the same parents as you.
• brother - a boy with the same parents as you.
• baby - the smallest child in the house.
• grandmother - your mother's mother, or your father's mother.
• grandfather - your mother's father, or your father's father.
• aunt - your mother's sister, or your father's sister.
• uncle - your mother's brother, or your father's brother.
• cousin - the child of your aunt or your uncle. Boy or girl, the word is the same!

Two words can join to make a bigger word: grand + mother = grandmother. Here grand means one step further back - the mother of your own mother.

3my and your

Keza is talking to her friend Mutesi. Keza points at a woman and says:

This is my mother.

Is that your mother?

4his and her - the tricky pair

Now Keza stops talking to people and starts talking about them. Watch very carefully here.

Worked example, step by step

Mugisha is a boy. Mugisha has a sister, and her name is Uwase. Keza wants to point at Uwase and say who she is. Let us work it out.

1. Step 1 - who is the owner? Ask yourself: whose sister is she? She is Mugisha's sister. So Mugisha is the owner.
2. Step 2 - is the owner a boy or a girl? Mugisha is a boy.
3. Step 3 - choose the word. Boy owner takes his. Girl owner takes her.
4. Step 4 - say it. "This is his sister."

Wait - Uwase is a girl, and we still said his? Yes! This surprises nearly everyone the first time. The word his is not talking about Uwase at all. It is talking about Mugisha, the person she belongs to.

Now turn the picture around. Uwase has a brother, and he is Mugisha. Whose brother is he? He is Uwase's brother. Uwase is a girl, so we take her:

This is her brother.

The same two people. A different owner. A different little word. That is the whole secret.

Try it yourself

Try each one first, then tap Show answer to check.