Family and Friends - Describing Relationships
Talk about your family and friends in Bengali. Learn the words for family members and friendship, each shown in the Bengali script with its sound and meaning.
Practise it before the paper, not after
Free, interactive practice on the words and structures the examiner keeps asking for.
Start revising freeWhat you'll cover
Family and friends in Bengali
To talk about the people in your life in Bengali, you first need the vocabulary for family and friends. Each word is written in the Bengali script, with its sound in brackets and its English meaning beside it, so you learn to read it and say it at the same time.
Words for the family
Learn each family word in the Bengali script, with its sound and meaning:
Male or female?
It helps to sort the family words into male and female:
Match the Bengali to the English
- বাবা (baba)
- মা (ma)
- ভাই (bhai)
- বোন (bon)
- father
- mother
- brother
- sister
The Bengali word for brother
Which Bengali word means brother?
- ভাই (bhai)
- বোন (bon)
- বাবা (baba)
- ছেলে (chhele)
Friends and friendship
Beyond the family come your friends. A friend is বন্ধু (bondhu), and friendship is বন্ধুত্ব (bondhutto). You might describe a friend as সুন্দর (sundor), which means beautiful or lovely. And the word for I, or me, is আমি (ami).
Match the Bengali to the English
- ছেলে (chhele)
- মেয়ে (meye)
- বন্ধু (bondhu)
- বন্ধুত্ব (bondhutto)
- son
- daughter
- friend
- friendship
About friends?
Select the TWO words that are about friends, not family.
- বন্ধু (bondhu)
- বন্ধুত্ব (bondhutto)
- বাবা (baba)
- বোন (bon)
Oldest to youngest
Put these people in order, from the oldest generation to the youngest.
- বাবা (baba), father
- আমি (ami), me
- ছেলে (chhele), my son
Complete the family
In Bengali, family is _____. Father is _____ and mother is _____. Brother is _____ and sister is _____.
Family words in Bengali
Tap the TWO statements that are TRUE.
- বাবা (baba) means father.
- বন্ধু (bondhu) means friend.
- মা (ma) means brother.
- ছেলে (chhele) means daughter.
- পরিবার (poribar) means friendship.
Which relative?
For each description, choose the correct Bengali word.
- You want to name your mother. Which word do you use?
- You want to name your sister. Which word do you use?
- You want to talk about your best friend. Which word do you use?
Your turn: write in Bengali
Write about your family IN BENGALI. Write in Bengali script - the transliteration in brackets is a reading aid only.
- Name two family members: বাবা (baba - father), মা (ma - mother), ভাই (bhai - brother) or বোন (bon - sister)
- Bengali needs no word for "is" - just put the words together: আমার পরিবার সুন্দর (amar poribar sundor - my family is lovely), using আমি (ami - I) in its possessive form আমার (amar - my)
- Name the wider group: পরিবার (poribar - family) or বন্ধু (bondhu - friend)
- You may add বন্ধুত্ব (bondhutto - friendship)