use of paternal and maternal

[CONNECTBRAIN]

Is this qustion formation correct and please correct it grammatically:
The one at whose place you stay is your paternal or maternal grandmom?
When can we use paternal and maternal

 

[emsr2d2]

Is this qustion formation correct and please correct it grammatically:
The one at whose place you stay is your paternal or maternal grandmom?
When can we use paternal and maternal

Do you stay at your maternal, or your paternal, grandmother's house?

We use maternal and paternal (in this context) when we want the listener to know if the relative is from our mother's side of the family, or our father's.

 

[Barb_D]

Without disagreeing at all, in casual conversation, we are more likely to say (in the US) is that on your mom's side or your dad's?

You wouldn't usually say "My maternal great aunt is having her 90th birthday next week" but "A favorite great aunt from my mom's side..." -- assuming you thought it was important for your listener to know which side of the family it was on.

 

[BobK]

...or 'my geat aunt on my mother's side. This is a bit of a mouthful though, so in Br Eng we use 'maternal/paternal' quite colloquially. In the world of genealogy 'on the mother's side' becomes 'on the distaff side'. (The distaff is the stick used to hold spun yarn when spinning - so feminist genealogists are in a bit of a bind! ;-))

b