foster parents
die Pflegeeltern
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foster parents
Adult people who take a child who is not their biological child into their family for a certain period of time or permanently and care for them. They take on parental responsibility without having adopted the child.
Das Mädchen wuchs bei liebevollen Pflegeeltern auf, nachdem es aus seiner Herkunftsfamilie genommen wurde.
The girl grew up with loving foster parents after she was removed from her family of origin.
| plural | die Pflegeeltern |
|---|
| singular | plural | |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | – | die Pflegeeltern |
| accusative | – | die Pflegeeltern |
| dative | – | den Pflegeeltern |
| genitive | – | der Pflegeeltern |
The article changes with the case; it is shown in colour.
The word is made up of 'Pflege' (care/fostering) and 'Eltern' (parents). It literally means 'parents who give care' and describes their function of looking after a child.
Die Pflegeeltern geben dem Kind ein stabiles und sicheres Zuhause.
The foster parents give the child a stable and safe home.
'Pflegeeltern' (foster parents) is part of a semantic field. It also includes 'das Pflegekind' (the foster child), 'die Pflegefamilie' (the foster family), and 'die Pflegschaft' (the legal guardianship relationship).
Das Jugendamt sucht dringend eine neue Pflegefamilie für den Jungen.
The youth welfare office is urgently looking for a new foster family for the boy.
The word is almost always used in the plural. When talking about the place where a child lives, you use the preposition 'bei' with the dative: 'bei seinen Pflegeeltern aufwachsen' (to grow up with one's foster parents).
Er hat einen großen Teil seiner Kindheit bei seinen Pflegeeltern verbracht.
He spent a large part of his childhood with his foster parents.
