close family — strong family ties
collocationB1IELTS 5+neutralcommon
People in your immediate family who you have a strong emotional connection with, such as your parents, children, brothers, or sisters.
Say it like a native
Textbook I maintain emotionally proximate familial relationships.
Native We're a close family.
'Emotionally proximate familial relationships' is comically formal; 'a close family' is what people say.
Pattern: close family (noun phrase); usually used as 'my/his/her close family'
In use
- Only my close family came to the small wedding ceremony.family
- In my country, people often rely on their close family for support during difficult times.IELTS speaking
Common mistake
✗ I have a close family with my parents.
✓ I'm close to my parents. / We're a close family.
'Be close TO someone', or 'a close family' as a whole.
Common collocations
a close family— close-knit, we're a, very, close to
Don't confuse it
Compare with 'extended family', which means a wider group of relatives like cousins, uncles, and aunts.