People And Relationships

People in relationship:

• client (clients)

NOUN - A client of a professional person or organization is a person that receives a service from them in return for payment.

■ a solicitor and his client

■ The company requires clients to pay substantial fees in advance.

• colleague (colleagues)

NOUN - Your colleagues are the people you work with, especially in a professional job.

■ Female academics are still paid less than their male colleagues.

■ In the corporate world, the best sources of business are your former colleagues.

• employer (employers)

NOUN - Your employer is the person or organization that you work for.

■ employers who hire illegal workers

■ The telephone company is the country's largest employer.

• parent (parents)

NOUN - Your parents are your mother and father.

■ Children need their parents.

■ When you become a parent the things you once cared about seem to have less value.

• sibling (siblings)

NOUN - Your siblings are your brothers and sisters. [FORMAL]

■ Some studies have found that children are more friendly to younger siblings of the same sex.

■ Sibling rivalry often causes parents anxieties.

• spouse (spouses)

NOUN - Someone’s spouse is the person they are married to.

■ Husbands and wives do not have to pay any inheritance tax when their spouse dies.

Describing people:

• autonomous

ADJECTIVE - An autonomous person makes their own decisions rather than being influenced by someone else

■ They proudly declared themselves part of a new autonomous province.

■ the liberal idea of the autonomous individual

• consistent

ADJECTIVE - Someone who is consistent always behaves in the same way, has the same attitudes towards people or things, or achieves the same level of success in something.

■ Becker has never been the most consistent of players anyway.

■ his consistent support of free trade

■ a consistent character with a major thematic function

• conventional

ADJECTIVE - Someone who is conventional has behaviour and opinions that are ordinary and normal.

■ a respectable married woman with conventional opinions

■ this close, fairly conventional English family

• co-operative also cooperative

ADJECTIVE - If you say that someone is co-operative, you mean that they do what you ask them without complaining or arguing.

■ The president said the visit would develop friendly and co-operative relations between the two countries.

■ a contented and co-operative workforce

• efficient

ADJECTIVE - If something or someone is efficient, they are able to do tasks successfully, without wasting time or energy.

■ With today’s more efficient contraception women can plan their families and careers.

■ Technological advances allow more efficient use of labour.

■ an efficient way of testing thousands of compounds

• flexible

ADJECTIVE - Something or someone that is flexible is able to change easily and adapt to different conditions and circumstances.

■ more flexible arrangements to allow access to services after normal working hours

■ We encourage flexible working.

• idealistic

ADJECTIVE -  If you describe someone as idealistic, you mean that they have ideals, and base their behaviour on these ideals, even if this may be impractical.

■ Idealistic young people died for the cause.

■ an over-simplistic and idealistic vision of family dynamics

• tolerant

ADJECTIVE - If you describe someone as tolerant, you approve of the fact that they allow other people to say and do as they like, even if they do not agree with or like it.

■ [+of] They need to be tolerant of different points of view.

■ Other changes include more tolerant attitudes to unmarried couples having children.

• vulnerable

ADJECTIVE - Someone who is vulnerable is weak and without protection, with the result that they are easily hurt physically or emotionally.

■ Old people are particularly vulnerable members of our society.