“We get on well”
and
“We’re going out”
sound similar, but they tell you different things. The first describes a good relationship; the second can mean two people are dating. Context and small words matter.
This relationships vocabulary guide helps you describe who someone is to you, how close you are and how a relationship changes. Learn the example patterns as well as the individual words.
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Family relationships
A relative is someone in your family. Your immediate family usually means your closest family members, such as parents, siblings, a spouse and children; the exact scope depends on context. Extended family includes relatives such as aunts, uncles and cousins.
A spouse is a husband or wife and is common in formal contexts. Partner can describe a romantic partner whether or not the couple are married. It can also mean a business partner, so context matters.
Half- and step- describe different family connections; they do not measure how close people feel. A half-sister shares one biological parent. A stepsister is related through a parent’s marriage, without a shared biological parent. People may simply say sister in everyday conversation.
Use the family words that fit your situation. For speaking practice, try our IELTS family questions.
Friendship vocabulary
An acquaintance is someone you know but do not know well. A friend is someone you have a friendly personal relationship with. A close friend is someone you know well and feel connected to; a best friend is a particularly close friend.
A childhood friend is someone you became friends with as a child. A mutual friend is a friend you and another person share. A colleague works with you; a classmate studies in the same class. Either person may also become a friend, but the words alone do not show emotional closeness.
Say
“We’ve been friends for years”
or
“She’s a friend of mine”
Avoid
“She is my friend person”
You make friends with someone, not do friends. Practise describing these connections with our IELTS friends questions.
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Dating and romantic relationships
Dating vocabulary describes attraction, meetings and relationships. A date can be the meeting itself or the person you meet romantically:
“We had a lovely date”
“I introduced my date to my friends.”
“They’re going out”
can mean they are dating;
“They’re going out for dinner”
may simply describe an evening plan. Likewise, seeing someone can mean dating them or meeting them, depending on the context.
Be careful with marriage patterns:
“She married Alex”
“She got married to Alex”
“She is married to Alex”
Avoid:
“She married with Alex”
The first two describe an event; the third describes her current status. Single usually means not in a romantic relationship in ordinary conversation, although official forms may use it to mean never married.
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Positive relationship qualities
A supportive person helps or encourages you. Someone reliable does what they promise. A considerate person thinks about other people’s needs, while an honest person tells the truth. Trust is the belief that you can rely on someone.
Use these words with evidence:
“My brother is supportive: he listens when I’ve had a difficult day.”
That explains more than a list of adjectives. A close-knit family or group has strong connections between its members; it does not necessarily live together.
Mutual respect means respect on both sides.
“We respect each other’s time”
describes a practical action. For a broader range of descriptions, see our personality adjectives. Here, focus on how people behave towards one another.
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Conflict and separation
A disagreement is a difference of opinion. An argument often involves an angry discussion, although argue can also mean give reasons for a position. A misunderstanding happens when people interpret something incorrectly:
“We had a misunderstanding about the meeting time.”
To apologise is to say you are sorry. You apologise to someone for something:
“I apologised to Dan for interrupting him.”
To forgive someone means stop blaming or feeling angry with them for something they did.
To break up or split up is to end a romantic relationship. A break-up is the noun:
“The break-up was difficult.”
Separated often describes married people who are no longer together but are not necessarily divorced. Divorced means their marriage has legally ended.
Relationship words describe the situation; feelings words describe the emotional response. Our emotions vocabulary can help you explain that response more precisely.
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Useful relationship collocations
Have something in common means share an interest, experience or characteristic:
“We both enjoy hiking, so we have something in common.”
Spend time with someone describes being together; quality time emphasises giving each other attention.
Keep in touch means continue communicating. Lose touch means stop communicating over time. You can lose touch with someone without arguing:
“We lost touch after university, but there were no hard feelings.”
Build trust means gradually develop confidence in each other. Break a promise means fail to do what you said you would do. Keep a promise means do it. Remember the prepositions: close to someone, friends with someone and in a relationship with someone.
Compare:
“I’m close to my sister”
“My sister lives close to me”
The first describes the relationship; the second normally describes physical distance.
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Phrasal verbs for relationships
These expressions are especially useful in conversation. Learn the whole pattern, including with or to where needed.
Get along with is also common. Falling out involves conflict; drifting apart can happen gradually without an argument. Making up means becoming friendly again, not automatically restarting a romantic relationship.
Some patterns allow a pronoun in the middle: “He asked her out.” Others keep the words together: “I look up to her”, not “I look her up to”.
Exercises and answers
Choose the correct option in questions 1–10. Follow the instructions for questions 11–15.
- My aunt’s daughter is my (cousin / niece).
- My brother’s son is my (nephew / uncle).
- We share a father but have different mothers. She is my (stepsister / half-sister).
- I know her name, but we rarely speak. She is an (acquaintance / spouse).
- Nina is a friend of both Ben and me. She is our (mutual / single) friend.
- I get on well (to / with) my colleagues.
- She is married (to / with) Sam.
- We have a lot (in / on) common.
- I apologised (to / for) Lee for being late.
- We argued and stopped speaking. We (fell out / drifted apart).
- Complete with the past form of make: “We talked about the argument and ___ up.”
- Rewrite correctly: “He asked out her.”
- Choose the phrase meaning maintain communication: keep in touch / lose touch.
- Correct the verb: “I want to do friends at my new college.”
- Rewrite using close to: “My sister and I have a strong personal relationship.”
Answers explained
- Cousin — your aunt’s or uncle’s child is your cousin.
- Nephew — your sibling’s son is your nephew.
- Half-sister — you share one biological parent.
- Acquaintance — you know her, but not well.
- Mutual — you and Ben share the same friend.
- With — get on with someone describes the relationship.
- To — the pattern is be married to someone.
- In — the fixed phrase is have something in common.
- To — apologise to a person; apologise for an action.
- Fell out — the sentence explicitly describes a conflict.
- Made — make is irregular: they made up after arguing.
- “He asked her out.” Put this pronoun between asked and out.
- Keep in touch — continue communicating with someone.
- “I want to make friends at my new college.” Make friends is the collocation.
- “I’m close to my sister.” Here, close describes an emotional connection.
For more chances to talk about your own life, LEW Daily offers short weekday English practice on LINE, with listening, a chance to reply and feedback.
Related lessons
IELTS Speaking Part 1: Friends
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