stepmother
Loading your saved state.
stepmother
The woman who is married to one's father but is not one's biological mother.
Nach der Scheidung seiner Eltern wuchs er bei seinem Vater und seiner Stiefmutter auf.
After his parents' divorce, he grew up with his father and his stepmother.
The prefix 'Stief-' (step-) refers to a family relationship that arises through the marriage of a parent, not through birth. This pattern is used for a whole range of relatives, e.g. 'Stiefvater' (stepfather), 'Stiefbruder' (stepbrother), or 'Stiefkind' (stepchild).
Seit der neuen Heirat ihres Vaters hat sie auch eine Stiefmutter.
Since her father's remarriage, she also has a stepmother.
In many classic fairy tales, the stepmother is portrayed as an evil figure. In everyday life today, however, the word is a neutral term that simply describes the family structure.
Entgegen dem Klischee aus den Märchen ist ihre Stiefmutter ihre beste Freundin geworden.
Contrary to the fairy-tale cliché, her stepmother has become her best friend.
The word is almost always used with a possessive pronoun (meine, deine, seine Stiefmutter: my, your, his stepmother) to make the relationship clear. It is often used in sentences that describe the personal relationship.
Er versteht sich gut mit seiner Stiefmutter.
He gets along well with his stepmother.
mother / nut
'die Mutter' and 'die Stiefmutter' both belong to the area of family and can be an important female caregiver for a child. 'die Mutter' is the woman who has given birth to or adopted a child and raises it. 'die Stiefmutter' is the woman who is married to the father but is not the child's biological mother. The words can be confused because both can have a motherly role in everyday life. More precisely, however: 'Mutter' describes the direct parental role, while 'Stiefmutter' describes a family role through marriage to the father.
Lenas Stiefmutter hilft ihr oft bei den Hausaufgaben.
Lena's stepmother often helps her with her homework.
Morgen besucht Tom seine Mutter im Krankenhaus.
Tomorrow Tom is visiting his mother in the hospital.