1. Positive relationships

She's my junior / I'm her senior / I'm senior to her, so she does what she's told, [refers to the position/length of service at work]

Aliona and I hit it off immediately. [liked each other the moment we met]. We're true soulmates. [people who feel close to each other in spirit and who understand each other deeply]

Nelly was my mother's lifelong companion, [friend who was with her all her life]. The moment I met Rob I could see he was a man after my own heart. [someone you admire because they do or think the same as you; can also be woman after one'sown heart]

Charlie and I get on like a house on fire. [have a very good, enjoyable relationship]

Jim and Tony have been bosom friends/buddies/pals for years. [very close, good friends)

Patricia and Carmen are inseparable. [always want to be together, very close]

There's always been a close bond between Kirsten and her aunt. [relationship or feeling of togetherness]

I think we should all be more careful in the use of the word 'friend'. It does not, and should not, be applied to a casual acquaintance. There are colleagues, allies and partners - all of them pretending to be friends because it suits their purpose. True friends want nothing from you and don't expect any special favours. We should ask nothing from them except loyalty, despite our faults. They should speak well behind our backs. Such friends are hard to find ...

Other key words:

Russia and America were allies [countries which fight on the same side] in the Second World War.

We were business partners (people who own the same business] but now we're bitter rivals [people in competition with each other in an aggressive and negative way].

Examples of problematic friendships

Terry has been disloyalto me on a number of occasions.

Jo's always very criticalof her friends. I don't like that.

OK, I was dishonest with you. I'm sorry, but I didn't want to hurt you.

Jim has always been scrupulously honest in his dealings with us.

I would never expect complete and unswerving loyalty from a friend.

Monica has always been my staunchest ally at work. I can always rely on her to support me. I was amazed that someone who called herself a friend could be so deeply critical.

2. Types of relationships

Mate is a colloquial word for a good friend. It can also be used in compounds to describe a person you share something with, e.g. classmate, shipmate, workmate, flatmate.

Workmate is usual in non-professional contexts; colleague is more common among professional people.

Fiancée/fiancé can still be used for someone you are engaged to, but a lot of people feel it is dated nowadays. You will sometimes see husband-/wife-to-be in journalistic style.

English has no universally accepted word for 'person I live with but am not married to', but partner is probably the commonest.

Here is a scale showing closeness and distance in relationships in different contexts.

friendship:	best friend	good friend	friend	acquaintance
work:	close colleague	colleague	workmate
love/romance:	lover	steady boy/girlfriend	ex-*
marriage:	wife/husband	partner	ex-*

* ex- can be used with or without (informally) another word: She's my ex. (girlfriend, etc.)