brothers or siblings?

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Arara

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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

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A brother is a male sibling.
 

Arara

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

5jj

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

Clearly! Your sister is not male.
 

Rover_KE

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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.:cry:

Rover
 
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Tdol

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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. :up:
 

BobK

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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

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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

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It's not that common in BrE.
 

BobK

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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
 

5jj

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BobK

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It's quite common in the world of teaching.

:up: Hadn't thought of that - a school's entrance policy will probably mention 'siblings in previous intakes'. And it's common in the collocation 'sibling rivalry' (as is one other collocation with a 'sociological' feel - 'perr pressure'.)

b
 

Barb_D

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When my cat wants me to feed her and I don't want to get up, she applies purr pressure.

But anyway, like I said, it's not that weird to casually use "siblings" here. "My siblings and I are planning a surprise party for my parents' 50th anniversary." That doesn't sound pedantic or scholarly.
 

emsr2d2

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When my cat wants me to feed her and I don't want to get up, she applies purr pressure.

But anyway, like I said, it's not that weird to casually use "siblings" here. "My siblings and I are planning a surprise party for my parents' 50th anniversary." That doesn't sound pedantic or scholarly.

As an only child, I have never had the need to utter such a sentence. However, my gut feeling is that the use of "siblings" becomes more appropriate the higher the number of siblings.

If I had two sisters, two brothers or one of each, I would probably say "My sisters and I are planning ...", "My brothers and I are planning ..." and "My brother and sister and I are planning ..."

However, if I had two sisters and three brothers, then I think I would be more likely to use "My siblings and I are planning ..."
 

~Mav~

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When my cat wants me to feed her and I don't want to get up, she applies purr pressure.
This must be a purr-fect way for her to gain your attention. :-D
 

BobK

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...
However, if I had two sisters and three brothers, then I think I would be more likely to use "My siblings and I are planning ..."
I'd raise the bar a bit; If, like my father, you had 9 siblings, maybe the word wouldn't sound over-formal. But I have 3 sisters and 1.5 brothers, and I I've always called them 'my brothers and sisters' (with appropriate epithets and synonyms from time to time ;-)).

b
 

emsr2d2

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I know what you mean but I'm surprised no-one else has queried the fact that you have 1.5 brothers!
 

5jj

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I know what you mean but I'm surprised no-one else has queried the fact that you have 1.5 brothers!
Perhaps we all immediately realised that he had a half-brother. :cool:
 

emsr2d2

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All of us? Even the learners whose language does not use the term half-brother. If so, that's fantastic!
 
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