rank

[ramaraj]

assume that i am 3rd person in my family.

can anyone ask me "what is your rank in your family "

[BobK]

No. The notion of rank is too formal.

That said, there was a time (British Empire - Victorian and thereabouts) when colonialists would often say things like 'my number one son' - I've even heard it more recently, jokingly. (I think this linguistic trick may have something to do with language met in Hong Kong or somewhere.)

People ask about this indirectly: 'Do you have any brothers or sisters?'/'Are you the oldest?' etc.

b

[Barb_D]

No, don't use that. Birth order is not very important to us and so we don't have special ways to ask this.

Sometimes you can say something like "So, are you the oldest?" or "Do you have older brothers or sisters?" or "Are you the youngest?" -- The person will respond with the information you want. "No, in fact I"m the youngest, with two older brothers." or "Yes, I have old older sister." or "I'm somewhere in the middle of our family of seven."

Sorry - My post lingered for 15 minutes before I posted so I look redundant now, but at least we agree!

[5jj]

For more discussion of this frquently asked question, type 'how manieth' in the search box. This will lead you to several threads on the subject.

[Tdol]

This link will do the same: whichth - UsingEnglish.com ESL Forum - Threads Tagged with whichth

[ramaraj]

No, don't use that. Birth order is not very important to us and so we don't have special ways to ask this.

Sometimes you can say something like "So, are you the oldest?" or "Do you have older brothers or sisters?" or "Are you the youngest?" -- The person will respond with the information you want. "No, in fact I"m the youngest, with two older brothers." or "Yes, I have old older sister." or "I'm somewhere in the middle of our family of seven."

Sorry - My post lingered for 15 minutes before I posted so I look redundant now, but at least we agree!

thanks for reply.............

[ramaraj]

No. The notion of rank is too formal.

That said, there was a time (British Empire - Victorian and thereabouts) when colonialists would often say things like 'my number one son' - I've even heard it more recently, jokingly. (I think this linguistic trick may have something to do with language met in Hong Kong or somewhere.)

People ask about this indirectly: 'Do you have any brothers or sisters?'/'Are you the oldest?' etc.

b

thank you for reply