你想解釋「老公個家姐個老公」下個週末會嚟探,結果由第三個字到第七個字之間,英文已經背叛咗你。佢算唔算 brother-in-law?Cousin-in-law?定係淨係用「my husband's sister's husband」?英文嘅 in-law 系統其實比睇上去簡單 —— 一旦你睇通個 pattern,大部份情況都 handle 到。
快速答案
喺基本嘅關係字後面加「-in-law」就得:mother、father、brother、sister、son、daughter → mother-in-law、father-in-law、brother-in-law、sister-in-law、son-in-law、daughter-in-law。複數加喺第一個字度:「mothers-in-law」、「brothers-in-law」。再遠少少嘅姻親,英文通常會講「my husband's cousin」或者「my wife's uncle」,而唔會嗌一個新 label 出嚟。
真實用法
| 人物 | 英文 label | 備註 |
|---|---|---|
| 另一半嘅媽媽 | mother-in-law | 永遠用 hyphen。 |
| 另一半嘅爸爸 | father-in-law | 同一個 pattern。 |
| 另一半嘅哥哥/細佬 | brother-in-law | |
| 另一半嘅家姐/細妹 | sister-in-law | |
| 另一半嘅姊妹嘅老公 | brother-in-law | 係 —— 都係 brother-in-law。 |
| 自己個仔嘅老婆 | daughter-in-law | 佢嫁咗畀你個仔。 |
| 自己個女嘅老公 | son-in-law | 佢娶咗你個女。 |
| 另一半嘅父母(群體) | my in-laws | 輕鬆、friendly。 |
| 另一半嘅 cousin / aunt | "my wife's cousin / aunt" | 英文用 possessive。 |
| 另一半屋企人(籠統) | "my husband's family" / "my in-laws' side" | 兩個都得。 |
常見錯誤
- "My mother in law is here." → "My mother-in-law is here." · 寫出嚟永遠要有 hyphen。
- "My mother-in-laws called." → "My mother-in-law called." (一個) / "My mothers-in-law called." (兩個) · 複數 -s 加喺「mother」,唔係「law」。
- "She is my husband sister." → "She is my husband's sister." or "She is my sister-in-law." · Possessive 's 一定要有。
- "I went to dinner with my in laws." → "I went to dinner with my in-laws." · 要 hyphenated。呢個係指「另一半屋企人嗰邊」嘅集體名詞。
- "He is my law brother." → "He is my brother-in-law." · 次序係 fixed:關係字 + 「-in-law」。
- "My step mother-in-law." → "My husband's stepmother." · 英文通常唔疊「step」同「in-law」;用 possessive 重新講過。
Mini Dialogues
Dialogue 1 — Weekend plans A: Doing anything fun this weekend? B: My in-laws are coming over. Big dinner. A: How many of them? B: Parents, both brothers-in-law, and one sister-in-law with her two kids. A: That's a lot of cooking. B: My husband's doing the cooking. I'm doing the smiling.
Dialogue 2 — Family chart confusion A: Wait, who's Marcus again? B: My brother-in-law. He's married to my sister. A: Oh — so he's your sister's husband. B: Right, but in English we just say "brother-in-law" for both directions — sibling's spouse or spouse's sibling. A: That's actually convenient. B: Saves a lot of breath.
語氣筆記
「In-laws」可以係中性、溫暖,亦可以帶刺 —— 睇 context 而定。「I'm so lucky with my in-laws」係真心嘅;「you know how in-laws are」就傾向於大家一齊翻白眼嘅幽默感。喺英語職場裏面,提 in-laws 係正常 small talk —— 「we're spending the holidays with my in-laws」講出嚟好安全。對唔太熟嘅人,要避免投訴 in-laws;喺英文裏面咁樣落地嘅效果,仲衰過投訴自己父母。要介紹佢哋嘅時候,「This is my mother-in-law, Carol」喺任何場合都得。如果你嗰刻記唔起準確嘅 term,「my wife's brother」或者「my husband's mom」永遠都聽得明、永遠都有禮貌。
Practice: Choose the Natural Sentence
Introducing your husband's mother at a party:
- A. "This is my mother in law."
- B. "This is my mother-in-law."
Talking about two of your spouse's brothers:
- A. "Both my brothers-in-law live nearby."
- B. "Both my brother-in-laws live nearby."
Describing your sister's spouse to a new friend:
- A. "He's my brother-in-law."
- B. "He's my sister husband."
答案
- B —— 寫出嚟要 hyphenated;講出嚟兩個一樣。
- A —— 複數 -s 加喺「brothers」,唔係「law」。
- A —— 「Brother-in-law」可以同時 cover 兄弟姊妹嘅配偶同另一半嘅兄弟姊妹;B 漏咗 possessive 's。
一句總結
喺六個核心家庭關係字後面加「-in-law」,永遠 hyphenated,複數加喺第一個字。集體就用「my in-laws」。再遠少少嘅姻親,英文唔開新 label,直接用 possessive:「my husband's cousin」、「my wife's uncle」。系統簡單,語氣 friendly,就咁掂。