brothers / sisters .... general term?

Question

Hi everybody!I want to know if there exists a generic term to refer to brothers and sisters, as "children" or "kids" would be for sons / daughters.If I wanted to say how many brothers and sisters I have in all, which term could I use?e.g., I have two brothers and two sisters       I have four ..............?Thanks a lot!Mara.PS: In Spanish, we would say Tengo cuatro hermanos to refer to male as well as female brothers / sisters.

Coachpotato · Accepted Answer

I don't think there's a generic word for this in English, there's the word 'siblings' which refers to both brothers and sisters, but it's too formal.

Let's see what native speakers say.

Pieanne · Answer

I'm with CoachP here... Can't think of anything unformal.

Riglos · Answer

Thanks for your replies guys!

But... would you say "I have three brothers and sisters" if you had three in all, i.e., one brother and two sisters?

Is that the most common way to put it?

Mara.

PS: commonest or most common?

Pieanne · Answer

"We're four kids at home"

"I have x brother(s) and x sister(s)".

Riglos · Answer

Hi Pieanne! I really like your version, but what if we are neither kids nor do we live at the same place? I think "we are four kids at home" doesn't apply in this case, what do you think?

Regards,

Mara.

Pieanne · Answer

My parents have four kids?

There are four of us kids?

Davkett · Answer

I don't really have a problem with 'siblings'.

LanguageLover · Answer

"Commonest" and "the most common" are both correct, like "cleverest" and "the most clever". However, "commonest" is commoner!

MrPedantic · Answer

In BrE, "siblings" is often used half-humorously. So it's fine in all contexts.

MrP

brothers / sisters .... general term?

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