Asking about someones family: Asking about someone's kids and their ages

💬 这 (zhè) points to someone or something near you, and 那 (nà) points to something farther away. Introductions work the same with either one: 这是我女儿 "This is my daughter".

💬 几岁 (jǐ suì) is how you ask a child's age, because 几 expects a smallish number. For adults, ask 多大 (duō dà) instead.

🇨🇳 Asking about kids' ages is a friendly, normal icebreaker in China, and parents are usually happy to chat about it.

💬 A number plus 岁 can state an age on its own, with no 是 needed. Swap the person and number to reuse it: 我三十岁 "I'm thirty".

💬 There's no "my" in the Chinese; when you're talking about your own family, 儿子 alone is clear enough.

💬 Here 一 (yì) changes tone because a falling-tone sound follows it. The pattern also works for other grades: 上三年级 "be in third grade".

💬 刚 (gāng) "just" goes right before the action to say it only recently happened: 刚到 "just arrived".

💬 对 (duì) "right" is a natural way to say yes when you're confirming a guess. A plain 是 would sound stiffer here.

🇨🇳 People in China ask this fairly freely, even soon after meeting someone, and it isn't considered intrusive.

💬 还没有 means "not yet", which is softer than a flat 没有 "no" because it suggests it may happen later.

🇨🇳 This answer is a polite way to close the topic. Older people may still follow up with friendly advice to have kids soon.

💬 乖 (guāi) is specifically the word for a child who is good and obedient. You wouldn't use it to describe an adult.

🇨🇳 Praising someone's kids is a warm compliment. Expect the parent to brush it off modestly rather than say thank you.

💬 哪里 (nǎ lǐ) literally means "where", but said twice like this it's a modest way to wave off praise.

🇨🇳 Brushing off a compliment this way is the traditional modest reply, though many younger people now just say 谢谢 "thanks".

💬 Here 得 is said (děi) and means "have to". The 了 at the end signals that it's time now.

💬 慢走 literally means "walk slowly".

🇨🇳 The host or the person staying behind says this to someone who is leaving. The person leaving never says it.