Talking About One’s Family

Expressing Family Relations

Expressing Kinship

Express kinship

My name is Birungi; my mother’s name is Makrita andmy father’s name is Juma. My uncle from my mother’s side is called John and another uncle on my father’s side is called Jamal. My grandfather lives in Ihanga village with his three sons; Bahari, Jamali and Bakari. I have five brothers; Atanas, Mussa, Geoffrey, David and Chris. My uncle has two sisters, who each have two children. Chris’ father in law is called Matata and Jamal’s sister in law is called Asnat. Bakari’s cousin is called Matata and Matata’s nephew is called Jamila. David’s niece is called Musa. His sister in law lives in Mahenge village.

Example 1

Example of family tree diagram representing Mizengo and Suzanna’s family

Talking about the Occupations of Family Members

The Occupation(s) of Family Members

Mention the occupation(s) of family members

Study the following occupations: Farmer, teacher, carpenter, secretary, gardener, driver, electrician, police, nurse, messenger and technician.

My name is Frank. My father is a teacher at Mtambile Secondary School and lives in Uweleni Street with my mother, who is a housewife. My grandfather who’s a farmer owns a big farm at Micheweni village. I have a brother who works at a bank and my sister is a policewoman. My other sister lives in Malapa town and is an electrician.

Activity 1

1. Write about the occupations of your family members.
2. Write a composition about occupations you like and express why you like it/them.
3. Mention various occupations of people in your school.

Exercise 1

Fill in the blank space provided

1. A woman or man who cares for patients is a ……….
2. A person who works in/on gardens is a………
3. Someone who drives a car is a ……….
4. My uncle flies airplanes. He is a………..
5. My mother sells fruits. She is a……..
6. Juma teaches at our school. He is a…….
7. Jane works in a bank. She is a…………

Talking about Ownership or Possession

Statement about Ownership

Make statement about ownership

These are groups of words that show/express possession. Possession is indicated by apostrophe [‘]s. For instance; Zuena’s father, Zueka’s family.

NB. If the nouns end with [s] the apostrophe is placed after the [s] in the noun. For instance; Puppies’ Girls’ ball, etc.

Different pronouns are used to indicate possession; these usually come at the end of the sentence or clause.

Example 2

1. This is my pen. It belongs to me. It is mine.
2. Our school has a big playground.
3. My sister has a car. It is her car. It belongs to her. It is hers.
4. I have a new bag. My bag is big.
5. I own a new car.
6. It is his boat.
7. My brother owns a big house.

Exercise 2

Complete these sentences using possessive pronouns.

1. Neither Bahati nor Rebecca had met……… cousin
2. My father owns a boat. It is………boat.
3. There are many buildings near………school
4. Shabani, please comb………..hair.
5. My brother has a chair. It is……….chair
6. I built………house when I was studying in Tabora.

Describing Physical Appearance

People’s Physical Appearance

Describe people’s physical appearance

Read the following story.

My name is Anne and I have two sisters. My younger sisters is fair in complexion. My other sister is beautiful and attractive. She has a daughter called Narsa who is tall and a son called Anali, who is short. My grandfather has grey hair, he is old and balding as well. My brother is dark skinned and very handsome.

Activity 2

1. Describe your father’s physical appearance.
2. Describe the physical appearances of your family members.

Describing Character

Describing One’s Own Character

Describe his/her character

Study the following descriptions:

• I am a kind person.
• I am a good-hearted man.
• I am a gentle boy.
• I am a generous person.

Read the text below:

My name is Juma. I am a good-hearted person, I am sincere and generous to people with problems, but I am sometimes careless with other people’s internal or personal issues.

Describing People’s Character

Describe people’s character

Read the text below:

I have two friends at school; One is called Ionia and the other is Natal. Natal is a kindhearted person and is very generous with a charming and welcoming face. She is also silent and gentle. Ionia is more careless and often gets into trouble.

Exercise 3

1. Give the meaning of the following words; Cruel, Rude, Generous, Greedy, Rough, Gentle.
2. In a single paragraph, describe the character of your friends.
3. Describe the character of your family members.

Activity 3

Use the expressions in the chart below to describe the appearance of well-known people to your partner.