medium family

[alpacinou]

Hello.

I want to say a family is neither big nor small. Can I say "medium" family? Which one is better?

1. I come from a medium family of five.

2. I come from a medium sized family of five.

Are there other options?

 

[emsr2d2]

Hello.

I want to say a family is neither big nor small. Can I say "medium" family? Which [STRIKE]one[/STRIKE] of the following is better?

1. I come from a medium family of five. :cross:

2. I come from a medium-sized family of five. Note the addition of the hyphen.

Are there other options?

See my changes and comment above.
However, sentence #2 suggests that there are medium-sized families of more/less than five. You could use just "I come from a medium-sized family". If someone then asked "How many of you are there?", you could supply the extra information ("There are five of us").

 

[PeterCW]

In British colloquial usage many people will interpret "family of" as referring to the number of children rather than the total number of people in the household. With that interpretation five is quite a large family by British standards.

 

[emsr2d2]

In British colloquial usage many people will interpret "family of" as referring to the number of children rather than the total number of people in the household. With that interpretation five is quite a large family by British standards.

I wouldn't.

Nor would I. For me, a family of five is (traditionally) mum, dad and three kids.

 

[Rover_KE]

I prefer an average-sized family.

 

[jutfrank]

For me, a family of five is (traditionally) mum, dad and three kids.

Without context I agree with this, but I think that adding I come from changes the interpretation to the number representing the number of children only.

 

[PeterCW]

Without context I agree with this, but I think that adding I come from changes the interpretation to the number representing the number of children only.

Sorry I should have made it clear that my comment was in the context of the sentences in the OP.

 

[jutfrank]

That doesn't work for me with the mention of a medium-sized family.

Yes, the mention of both a relative size and a specific number is distracting. I think what the OP means is most simply expressed using the phrase suggested in post #6:

I come from an average-sized family.

The listener can make of that what he/she will.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Hello.

I want to say a family is neither big nor small. Can I say "medium" family? Which one is better?

1. I come from a medium family of five.

No. There's no such thing.

2. I come from a medium sized family of five.

No, unless you mean that all five of you are medium-sized.

In that case, it would be better to say, "I come from a family of five medium-sized people."

Families of five are all the same size. You're implying that there are also small and large families of five.

Are there other options?

Either say "I come from a medium-sized family" or "I come from a family of five."

And I agree with Jutfrank that average-sized is more natural.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

In British colloquial usage many people will interpret "family of" as referring to the number of children rather than the total number of people in the household. With that interpretation five is quite a large family by British standards.

Aha! Interesting. I was picturing three children.

 

[Rover_KE]

And I agree with Jutfrank that average-sized is more natural.

I said that first (post #6).:roll:

 

[jutfrank]

I said that first (post #6).:roll:

Yes, you did. I had actually credited your post #6 in the post that I later deleted. Sorry.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

I said that first (post #6).:roll:

We're all agreeing about something? Boring!

 

[GoesStation]

We're all agreeing about something? Boring!

I agree with you.