Name: Learn English Vocabulary : The people we LOVE : spouse, girlfriend, partner, husband...
Uploaded: 2018-02-13T15:48:18.000Z
Duration: 14 min 38 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

Present continuous

Hello. My name is Emma, and in today's video we
are going to talk about love and romance, and

So, this video is very important when we're
talking about conversational English and English

vocabulary, because a lot of what
we talk about is relationships.

Maybe if we don't have a relationship, we
might talk about our friends' relationships

or our family's relationships, so
it's good to know these words.

So, we're going to talk about some of the more
common words you'll hear people talk about.

For example, maybe you've wondered before:
"What's the difference between: 'spouse',

"What do you call a girlfriend or
boyfriend when you're in your 60s?"

So we have a lot of these questions students often
ask, so in this video I'm going to answer them.

To start with, let's
talk about marriage.

What do you call
somebody who is married?

Well, there are multiple things you
can call a person who is married.

If we're looking at traditional terms, so terms
a lot of people use that are more traditional,

you might hear somebody talk about "a husband"
if they're talking about a man who is married,

you might hear them talk about their "hubby" if
they're talking about a husband in an informal

So, for example, I could talk about my husband
or my hubby, they have the same meaning and

I can also, if I'm talking about a woman,
we can use the word "wife": "My wife".

If we're talking about more than one husband,
we can just add an "s" and say: "husbands".

And if we're talking about more than one wife,
we actually have to change the spelling from

"f" to "v" and add an "s", and
so this is pronounced: "wives".

We also have another term
which I like: "spouse".

So, "spouse" is a word that can mean either
a husband or a wife, it's a different word,

but the point is that it can
be a man or a woman. Okay?

So you can talk about: "My spouse", "Your
spouse", "How long have you and your spouse

If you're having trouble remembering this
word, you can think about a mouse, maybe a

mouse who's married, that can help you remember
the word "spouse" because it rhymes with "mouse".

So these are more the traditional terms we use
when we talk about people who are married.

We also have less traditional terms that
are very common and many people use.

A less traditional term might
be the term "partner".

When we're talking about partner, you have
your business partners, but in a relationship

when you're talking about romance and
love, you can also have a partner.

So, "a partner" is someone you
are in a relationship with.

So, in this case, "partner" can mean that
you're married to the person, so maybe you're

So some people use the term "partner" when
they're talking about who they're married

to, and other people use the word "partner" and
they're not married, so it can mean married

It's genderless, meaning we don't know if
the partner refers to a man, a woman, or a

We also don't know if the person is in a same-sex
relationship, or a gay or lesbian relationship,

or if they're in a heterosexual
or a straight relationship.

It's different than the more traditional terms
because there's a lot of information that

people might not want to share, so they
might use the word "partner" instead.

Or maybe "husband" and "wife", those terms
don't apply, so they like the word "partner".

You might also hear somebody talk about their
"life partner", which is another way to say

Another way to talk about somebody you're
in a relationship with, if you're in a very

serious relationship, is you can
talk about your "significant other".

So this is a long word, let's say
this together: "sig-nif-i-cant".

So, "a significant other" is somebody who's been
in a relationship with somebody else for...

Again, "significant other" can mean the person
is married, but it can also mean they're not

So, key point here is: Listen to
what people use, and use that.

So, for example, if somebody is talking about
their husband, you can talk about their husband;

if somebody talks about their partner, maybe
you might want to use the word "partner",

So listen carefully to how people talk about
this, and it's always a good idea to use what

All right, so now let's look at some other
key relationship words when we're talking

Okay, so a lot of people have different preferences
on how to talk about their relationships.

So, we've talked about the word "partner"
which can mean you're married to the person

Another way we can talk about somebody that
we're dating or that we're in a relationship

with is we can call them "our boyfriend" when
we're talking about a man or "our girlfriend"

Some people don't like these terms, especially
when they're older because they feel like

"boyfriend" and "girlfriend" sound a little bit
childish, like you're talking about somebody

in high school, and so if you're 60 or 70 years
old, maybe you might not like these terms.

But other people love these
terms and there's...

So, again, there's a lot of different
people who use different terms.

Some people who might not like these terms
might use the word "partner" instead, whereas

So, "boyfriend" is when we're talking about
a man, "girlfriend" is when we're talking

So, some students wonder: "Why don't we say:
'manfriend' and why don't we say: 'womanfriend'?

Doesn't that make more sense when
you're talking about older people?"

I think you're right, but unfortunately, these
terms nobody uses and if you use these terms

it wouldn't sound correct, so we do not use
the word "manfriend" or "womanfriend"; we