MOTHER-IN-LAW or MOTHER-IN-LOVE

FAMILY ENGLISH - MOTHER-IN-LAW OR MOTHER-IN-LOVE?

This is always a funny one for me but it is simply an issue of pronunciation. When Spanish people talk about their family-in-law (familia politica) they often pronounce the word "law" as "love"!!!

I don't know why this happens but the number of students that I have heard saying "my sister-in-love" is quite high so I assume that this is quite a common mistake for many Spanish people. You will have to let me know if you think you make this mistake! The important thing to remember here is that in English we say "brother-in-LAW" which is "LEY" and which, of course, is very different to "LOVE"!

Hope that helps!