host brother

Meaning

1. 1nouncountable

   A boy or young man in a family that takes in a student or visitor, especially on an exchange program.

   Grammar: Countable: say 'my host brother' or 'two host brothers'; the family is the host family.

   Patterns

   • someone's host brother
   • live with a host brother
   • my host brother's family

   My host brother showed me how to ride the bus to school.

   She stayed with a host family in Dublin and got on well with her host brother.

   Every host brother and host sister in the program came to the welcome dinner.

Word forms

Common combinations

live with a host brother

For a year I lived with a host brother in Osaka.

one's host brother and host sister

My host brother and host sister both played in the school band.

get on well with one's host brother

It took a month, but I got on well with my host brother in the end.

a former host brother

A former host brother visited us last summer.

Synonyms and how they differ

host sibling

A gender-neutral term; use it when you do not want to say brother or sister.

exchange brother

Used more loosely and mostly by students themselves; 'host brother' is the standard term for the family member.

Word family

host sister noun

The female equivalent: a girl in the family you stay with.

host family noun

The whole family that takes in a student or visitor.

host mother noun

The woman in that family, often the main contact for the school.

host father noun

The man in that family.

Commonly confused: host brother or hostel?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “host brother”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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