--- title: New partners and step-families — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «New partners and step-families», a lesson of the adult life course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: After parents split up, or after a mum or dad has died, a grown-up may meet someone new and fall in love again. --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/16-new-partners-and-step-families/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/) / [Adult life](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/) / New partners and step-families # New partners and step-families Lesson 16 of the adult life course of Mova's primary school: 22 sentences, each with its syntax tree and pragmatics. The lessons are written for Mova, and their agreed trees are part of Mova corpus 0.4 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How Mova does on its tests: [the lesson at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/adult-life/16-new-partners-and-step-families/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/16-new-partners-and-step-families/0/) — After parents split up, or after a mum or dad has died, a grown-up may meet someone new and fall in love again. - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/16-new-partners-and-step-families/1/) — That new person is called their partner. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/16-new-partners-and-step-families/2/) — Grown-ups usually wait until the relationship is serious before the children meet the new partner, and they pick a relaxed, ordinary place for the first meeting. - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/16-new-partners-and-step-families/3/) — In Leeds, Dad takes Ellie for pizza and says, "There's someone I'd like you to meet." Sarah is waiting at the table, a bit nervous too, and she has two kids of her own who will come round at weekends. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/16-new-partners-and-step-families/4/) — A new partner does not replace your mum or dad. - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/16-new-partners-and-step-families/5/) — If they marry or move in, they become a step-parent, their children become step-brothers and step-sisters, and a baby they have together is a half-brother or half-sister. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/16-new-partners-and-step-families/6/) — Families come in many shapes: two mums, two dads, one parent, step-families, and all of them are real families. - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/16-new-partners-and-step-families/7/) — Mixing two families takes time, and it is normal to find it hard at first. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/16-new-partners-and-step-families/8/) — When Dad says "There's someone I'd like you to meet", he means he has a new partner he cares about and wants you to know. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/16-new-partners-and-step-families/9/) — A first meeting with a parent's new partner is often in a relaxed place like a pizza restaurant, so there is less pressure. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/16-new-partners-and-step-families/10/) — When Mum says "We're just friends", she means they are friends, not boyfriend and girlfriend, and you can believe her. - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/16-new-partners-and-step-families/11/) — A parent's new partner is not a new mum or dad; if they marry or live together, they become a step-parent. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/16-new-partners-and-step-families/12/) — Many children call a step-parent by their first name, and it is fine to ask what to call them. - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/16-new-partners-and-step-families/13/) — The children of a parent's partner can become your step-siblings: brothers or sisters through marriage, not by birth. - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/16-new-partners-and-step-families/14/) — A step-sister who snaps "You're not my real sister!" is often upset about changes in her own family and taking it out on you. - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/16-new-partners-and-step-families/15/) — Remarrying means marrying again after a divorce or after a husband or wife has died. - [16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/16-new-partners-and-step-families/16/) — Being asked to be part of a parent's wedding shows that you are an important part of the new family. - [17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/16-new-partners-and-step-families/17/) — A step-mum who says "I'm not trying to replace your mum" means she wants a different kind of relationship with you, not to take your mum's place. - [18](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/16-new-partners-and-step-families/18/) — Some children have two mums or two dads because their parents are a same-sex couple, and that family is just as real as any other. - [19](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/16-new-partners-and-step-families/19/) — A single parent looks after the children mostly alone, maybe after a separation, a death or by choice, and it is a complete family. - [20](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/16-new-partners-and-step-families/20/) — A baby who shares only one parent with you is your half-brother or half-sister. - [21](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/16-new-partners-and-step-families/21/) — It is normal to feel shy, curious, jealous or cross about a new partner, and you do not have to love them straight away. - ← previous: [When parents separate](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/15-when-parents-separate/) - next →: [Gran, cousins and the whole wide family](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/17-gran-cousins-and-the-whole-family/) - ↑ back to [Adult life](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/)