Family members
Arabic · Key Stage 2 · The School
The core family words
أَب father. أُمّ mother. أَخ brother. أُخْت sister. اِبْن son. بِنْت daughter. جَدّ grandfather. جَدّة grandmother. Notice most masculine and feminine pairs simply add ة at the end.
Two words for uncle, two for aunt
عَمّ is your father's brother. خال is your mother's brother — a completely different word, not a variation of the first. The same split happens for aunt: عَمّة is a father's sister, خالة a mother's sister. English collapses all four into one word; Arabic keeps them apart.
Why the split exists
Historically, which side of the family a relative came from mattered for inheritance, tribal identity and who you might marry. The vocabulary still carries that old distinction even though daily life has moved on — language keeps traces of history long after the reason behind it has faded.
Naming your own family
هذا أَبي — this is my father. هذِهِ أُمّي — this is my mother. Add ي to almost any family word to mean 'my': akh becomes akhī, my brother; ukht becomes ukhtī, my sister. This same ending works for jadd too: jaddī, my grandfather. Try building two sentences of your own, one for a male relative and one for a female one.