“family"

[LeTyan]

Hi,
The word "family" seems to be very tricky to me.

As a kid, can he or she say "my family has my mom, dad and I"?
As a man, when he says "my family", does that include himself?

When someone asks me, "how many people are in your family", I just get confused, should I include my parents or should I only say my wife and kids" or should I only say my kids?

The phrase "my family" is even more confusing. When someone says "my family", who exactly does he really refer to?

Thank you!

 

[Roman55]

I am not a teacher.

The word "family" can be many things but is usually taken to mean a family unit made up of parents and their children.

For a child, the family would be the siblings and parents.
For an adult it would be the spouse and the children.

It could also mean all the people who are living together as a family.

Of course, it can include just about anyone, so context and more precise adjectives such as "immediate", "close", "distant", "extended" and so on can be used to define it further.