brothers or siblings?

[Arara]

Hi,

Liza has one brother and one sister.
Can I say?
Liza has two brothers or the word brothers can only be related to males.

Should I say Liz has two siblings?

Thanks

[birdeen's call]

A brother is a male sibling.

[Arara]

That's mean saying brothers is wrong when I am talking about one sister and one brother.

[5jj]

That's means saying 'brothers' is wrong when I am talking about one sister and one brother.

Clearly! Your sister is not male.

[Rover_KE]

See also the answers to beachboy's question in the Similar Threads below.

You appear to have no single word in Italian for 'brothers and sisters', Arara.

Rover

[Tdol]

That's mean saying brothers is wrong when I am talking about one sister and one brother.

How would saying Liza has two sisters sound? Neither sentence works- sisters aren't brothers and brothers aren't sisters.

[BobK]

Gilnetter's choices cover the ground: 'Either Liz has two siblings, or, Liz has a brother and a sister.' Bear in mind, though, that if you use the first option you'll run the risk of being mistaken for an anthropology text-book. Colloquial British English just doesn't have a sexless option.

b

PS Similarly 'uncles and aunts'.

[Barb_D]

After seeing a few threads that mention siblings, I've come to the conclusion that the word is simply more common in the US. I find it very normal to mention siblings and I know I've others use the word in very casual settings. You'll even hear "sibs" as shorthand.

[Tdol]

It's not that common in BrE.

[BobK]

After seeing a few threads that mention siblings, I've come to the conclusion that the word is simply more common in the US. I find it very normal to mention siblings and I know I've others use the word in very casual settings. You'll even hear "sibs" as shorthand.

Yes, I started saying 'Colloquial English', but then thought maybe I should add 'British'. Good job I did

b