Verwandte

Verwandte is a German noun meaning relatives, i.e., people connected to someone by blood or by marriage. It is used to refer to family members such as parents, siblings, children, and more distant kin, as well as to in-laws in common usage. The term can also describe kinship networks more broadly, for example in genealogical or social contexts.

As a noun, Verwandte has inflected forms for gender and number. The singular forms are der Verwandte (male relative) and die Verwandte (female relative). The plural form is die Verwandten, used for groups of relatives regardless of their gender composition in everyday speech, though feminine and masculine singular forms may be used when the exact gender is specified.

Verwandte is often paired with possessive pronouns, as in Meine Verwandten kommen zu Besuch. It is common to contrast Verwandte with Freunde or Bekannte to distinguish family ties from social acquaintances. In phrases such as zu meinen Verwandten zählen, the term emphasizes kinship as a social category.

Etymology and related terms: Verwandte derives from Verwandtschaft, the German word for kinship or relation, itself related to the adjective verwandt, meaning related. Related terms include Verwandtschaftsbeziehungen (kinship relations) and verwandt/verwandt, used to describe the state of being related.

See also: Verwandtschaft; verwandte Themen (in the sense of related topics) is a different use of verwandte as an adjective in collocations.