The big family vocabulary
Russian distinguishes maternal and paternal relatives in a few cases (and has separate words for each in-law role). The genitive case is your friend here — 'sister of mom', 'brother of dad'.
Core extended family
- тётя (aunt), дядя (uncle). - двоюродный брат (male cousin), двоюродная сестра (female cousin). Literally 'second-line brother/sister'. The adjective двоюродный agrees with gender. - племянник (nephew), племянница (niece). - внук (grandson), внучка (granddaughter).
Maternal vs paternal
Russian doesn't have separate words for paternal vs maternal aunts/uncles — same word, but you can specify with the genitive: - Тётя по маме / Тётя со стороны мамы = aunt on mom's side. - Брат папы = dad's brother (= my paternal uncle, simply). In casual speech, Russians just say тётя Маша (Aunt Masha) without specifying.
In-laws
These have specific words but most learners get by with descriptions: - свекровь = mother-in-law (husband's mother). - свёкор = father-in-law (husband's father). - тёща = mother-in-law (wife's mother). - тесть = father-in-law (wife's father). - зять = son-in-law / brother-in-law. - невестка = daughter-in-law / sister-in-law. Learners usually skip these until needed.
Husband, wife, partner
- муж = husband. - жена = wife. - парень = boyfriend (also 'guy'). - девушка = girlfriend (also 'young woman / girl'). - партнёр = partner (gender-neutral, more formal). У Анны есть парень. = Anna has a boyfriend.
