connection or relationship

Question

Hello everyone. Suppose you are my close friend. And one day I see you with someone in the street. While I dont know your companion. If I want to know her. Which of the following questions is correct or more common?

A: Who is this lady and What is her connection to you?
B: Oh, This is Candice my new daughter in law.

C: Who is this lady and what is her relationship to you?
D: Oh, This is Candice my new daughter in law.

E: Who is this lady and How is she connected to you ?
F: Oh, This is Candice my new daughter in law.

I mean which question is better or more common to ask?
A,C or E?
or anything else?

AlpheccaStars · Accepted Answer

The question would be dependent on the culture and the gender of your friend.

If your friend is a man:
In some societies, it is not socially acceptable for a woman to be seen with a man that they are not related to. So asking "How are you related?" would be a natural first question.

In other societies, there is no social stigma for a woman and a man who have no familial connection to be seen together, so it would be strange to ask "How are you related?"

If your friend is a woman, then there is no question of propriety, so I would ask, "Who was the woman I saw you with?"

Englishmaven · Answer

We would not use any of your suggestions (A, C, or E), actually, but we have a number of ways to handle that situation depending on other factors like the nature of the relationship we have with our close friend. Can you joke around freely with the person? Do you know personal things about each other? It depends.

It's very likely that your friend would introduce you, and you won't have to ask. What you want to know is this:
How are you related?
How do you know each other?
What's your relationship?
It would okay to ask that.

We might say any of the following:

Hi, Bob. Who do we have here?
Oh, this is my niece, Marta. Marta, this is my best friend, David.

Hey, Bob. Introduce me to your walking buddy. (Introduce me to your companion or friend.)
Sure. This is George.

Hi, Bob. Oh, let me introduce myself (you say to the stranger). I'm Bob's cousin, Jerry.
And then the other person will introduce him/herself to you.

Your friend Bob is walking down the street with another man his age.
You go up to them. You say, "Hi, Bob. How's it going?" Then to his friend, "And who might you be?" OR "And what is your name?"

OR "Hello. I'm Sally, Bob's sister-in-law." You extend you hand for a handshake.
The new person introduces himself: "I'm George, Bob's neighbor."

You might try one of these.

Sunny123 · Answer

EnglishmavenWe would not use any of your suggestions (A, C, or E), actually, but we have a number of ways to handle that situation depending on other factors like the nature of the relationship we have with our close friend. Can you joke around freely with the person? Do you know personal things about each other? It depends. It's very likely that your friend would introduce you, and you won't have to ask. What you want to know is this:How are you related?How do you know each other?What's your relationship? ......

Thank you Englishmaven. And when we need to ask some of our classmates about their family members in order to fill out a table such as the following one.

In that case. Are all the following questions correct?
And which one do you prefer?
1. Javad, can you give me the name of one of your family members?
2. Javad, can you give me the name of one family member?
3. Javad, can you give me the name of a family member?
?

AlpheccaStars · Answer

Javad, what's your father's name?
Are you an only child, or do you have brothers and sisters?
What are their names?

connection or relationship

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