Asking about someones family: Family members and relatives

🇨🇳 In northern China you'll also hear 姥爷 (lǎo ye) for this grandpa; 外公 is more common in the south.

🇨🇳 In northern China you'll also hear 姥姥 (lǎo lao) for this grandma; 外婆 is more common in the south.

💬 English 'uncle' covers several Chinese words: 舅舅 (jiù jiu) is your mother's brother, while your father's brothers are 叔叔 (shū shu) "father's younger brother" or 伯伯 (bó bo) "father's older brother".

🇨🇳 叔叔 also doubles as a polite way for children to address any adult man, so kids will call you that too.

💬 Your mother's sister is a different word: 阿姨 (ā yí) "mother's sister". 姑姑 (gū gu) is only for your father's sister.

🇨🇳 阿姨 is also how people politely address any middle-aged woman, from a neighbour to a cleaner.

💬 Said (qīn qi), with the second part light and toneless.

🇨🇳 Relatives are a big part of life; at Chinese New Year people visit them in rounds, and the swarm of names to remember is a running joke even among Chinese people.

💬 To say you don't have something, use 没有 (méi yǒu), never 不有: 我没有车 "I don't have a car".

💬 一 before 个 is said (yí), so it's (yí ge). Chinese needs a counting word between a number and a noun: swap in 两个 (liǎng ge) for 我有两个哥哥 "I have two older brothers".

💬 To ask about someone's siblings, use 你有兄弟姐妹吗？ (nǐ yǒu xiōng dì jiě mèi ma) "Do you have any brothers or sisters?". 兄 and 弟 are older and younger brothers, and 姐 and 妹 are older and younger sisters.

🇨🇳 Asking about siblings is normal, friendly small talk in China, even with people you have just met.

💬 Add 吗 to the end of any statement to make it a yes/no question, with no change in word order: 你有车吗？ "Do you have a car?"

🇨🇳 Since the one-child policy, many people under about 45 have no siblings, so this question is common and a 'no' is completely normal.

💬 兄弟姐妹 simply strings together older brother, younger brother, older sister, younger sister to mean 'siblings'.

💬 With close relationships like family, Chinese usually drops 的: 你家, 我妈妈, 我朋友 "my friend".

💬 口 "mouth" is the counting word used only for people in a household — mouths to feed. For other groups of people use 个: 几个人.

💬 几 asks 'how many' when you expect a small number, and takes the place where the answer goes: 你家有几口人？ → 我家有四口人。

🇨🇳 This is a standard, friendly getting-to-know-you question, not nosy; expect follow-ups about marriage, children and work too.

💬 家 means both 'family' and 'home', so 我家 can also be 'my place': 来我家吧 "come over to my place".

🇨🇳 People usually count themselves in the number and then list everyone: 爸爸、妈妈、哥哥和我 "Dad, Mom, older brother and me".

💬 这是 plus any noun introduces someone or something: 这是我朋友 "This is my friend". Use 那是 (nà shì) "that is" for things further away.

💬 The question word 谁 sits exactly where the answer goes, so the answer just swaps it out: 这是谁？ → 这是我妈妈。

🇨🇳 Showing family photos on your phone is a common way to bond, and this is the question you'll hear when you do.

💬 你的家人 and 你家人 both work; 的 is optional with family, and dropping it sounds more casual.

💬 Place 在 after a verb to say where it happens: 住在北京 "live in Beijing". 哪儿 (nǎr) is the northern form; southerners often say 哪里 (nǎ lǐ).

🇨🇳 Many Chinese people work far from their hometown, so this question often leads into talk of 老家 "hometown" and how often they get back.