“The girl to my left is Adrian's friend Mirlaine.”

You had a picnic with a group of people last weekend. You're showing photos of the picnic to a friend who wasn't there. You're telling her who some of the people in the photos are. You say:

The girl to my left is Adrian's friend Mirlaine.

(something) to (someone's) (right/left)

When you're describing where things are located around people, you can use the phrase "to your right" or "to someone's left".

When you describe something as "to someone's right/left", you're telling where it is from the point of view of the person you're talking about. This might be different from the point of view of the listener. In the example above, "to my left" means on the left side of me in the photo. If I'm facing toward the camera, this will be the opposite direction from the people looking at the photo.

If you want to describe where something is from the point of view of the listener, you can say "on the left":

The girl on the left of me is Adrian's friend Mirlaine.

girl

Deciding whether to call someone a "girl" can be tricky. Here are a few guidelines:

• You usually don't call someone a "girl" if they are more than about 5 years older than you.
• A person who's old enough to be a grandmother isn't usually called a "girl".
• It's more appropriate to call a friend or someone you know socially a "girl". Calling someone you know through business a "girl" is usually not a good idea.
• Men should be more careful about calling someone a "girl" because it can seem condescending.

(someone's) (relationship) (name)

When you want to tell a person's name as well as their relationship at the same time, you use this phrase. For example:

That's Rachel's husband Pete.

Have you met my sister Fumiko?

Your friend Denise seems like she's having a good time.