In Swedish, there are different words to refer to grandparents which explain whether they are on your mother's side or your father's side. The words are (and literally translate to)
- Mormor – Mother's mother
- Morfar – Mother's father
- Farmor – Father's mother
- Farfar – Father's father
Google Translate just says "grandmother" and "grandfather" for each when translated in English. But that doesn't seem to keep the same intent of referring to the specific grandparent I am talking about.
How can I express these words similarly in English and have it sound right? I thought something like this:
I visited my mother's mother today in hospital
But it doesn't sound natural to me.
Best Answer
You can specify which is which by saying maternal grandparents (your mother's parents) or paternal grandparents (your father's grandparents). I know of no single word in English that makes the distinction.
Some families get around this ambiguity by referring to both sets of grandparents with different terms of affection (for example, the mother's mother might be "Nanny", while the father's mother might be "Grandma", so, when one parent says, "We'll be going to Grandma's for Christmas," the children know where they are going).
I should note that the terms maternal and paternal are seldom used. For example, in your sentence, I would simply say:
Sometimes, though, maternal and paternal can be used for clarification:
although the speaker is probably just as likely to respond with:
One other way this is often communicated in English is by using the phrase "on my mother's side" (or "father's side"). So, in the conversation about Emily, one might hear:
Or, to use your original example:
Credit and thanks to mcalex for mentioning on my mother's/father's side.