Self-Introduction: Marital Status and Relatives (Familienstand und Verwandte)
A simple guide to learning family vocabulary, talking about marital status, and relatives in German (A1 - A2)
1. Expressing Marital Status (Der Familienstand)
To talk about your marital status in Germany during German self-introductions, we usually use the verb sein followed by the adjective for marital status:
| German Marital Status | English Meaning | Example Sentence |
|---|---|---|
| ledig | single | Ich bin ledig. |
| verheiratet | married | Ich bin verheiratet. |
| geschieden | divorced | Ich bin geschieden. |
| verwitwet | widowed | Ich bin verwitwet. |
| verlobt | engaged | Ich bin verlobt. |
💡 Grammar Note (Grammatik-Hinweis)
In German, adjectives for marital status (such as ledig or verheiratet) do not change endings whether the speaker is male or female when positioned after the verb sein.
2. Family Members and Relatives (Die Verwandten)
Possessive articles mein (masculine/neuter) and meine (feminine/plural) are used when talking about family members, as covered in our A1 possessive pronouns lesson:
| Word with Article (Singular) | Plural | English Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| der Vater (mein Vater) | die Väter | father (my father) |
| die Mutter (meine Mutter) | die Mütter | mother (my mother) |
| die Eltern (Plural) | meine Eltern | parents (my parents) |
| der Bruder (mein Bruder) | die Brüder | brother (my brother) |
| die Schwester (meine Schwester) | die Schwestern | sister (my sister) |
| die Geschwister (Plural) | meine Geschwister | siblings |
| der Großvater / Opa | die Großväter | grandfather / grandpa |
| die Großmutter / Oma | die Großmütter | grandmother / grandma |
Interactive Family & Marital Status Generator Tool 🎧
Select your marital status and number of siblings below to generate a grammatically correct German self-introduction for your family with direct audio pronunciation.
Final Text in German:
Translation of Final Text:
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