Asking about someones family: Family members and relatives

💬 兒 here is (ér), a full syllable: (nǚ ér). Its partner is 兒子 (ér zi) "son".

💬 小孩 can mean one child or several. Chinese nouns don't change for plural, so context or a number tells you how many.

💬 先生 also means "Mr." or "sir". It only means "husband" when someone owns it, as in 我先生 "my husband" or 你先生 "your husband".

🇹🇼 In Taiwan, 我先生 and 我太太 are the normal, polite way to mention your spouse in conversation. 老公 and 老婆 are more casual and affectionate.

💬 On its own, 太太 can also be a polite title for a married woman, like "Mrs.": 王太太 "Mrs. Wang".

💬 外 means "outside". It marks your mother's side of the family, as in 外公 and 外婆.

🇹🇼 Children in Taiwan also call any friendly adult man around their parents' age 叔叔, whether or not he's related.

🇹🇼 Outside the family, 阿姨 is a warm, everyday way to address an older woman, such as a shop owner or a friend's mom. It sounds friendlier than a formal title.

💬 表哥 is specifically an older male cousin. Swap the ending to change who you mean: 表姐 "older female cousin", 表弟 "younger male cousin", 表妹 "younger female cousin".

💬 Use 幾 to ask about a number you expect to be small, and put a counting word after it: 幾個人 "how many people", 幾個小孩 "how many children".

💬 口 literally means "mouth". It's used to count people only when you're talking about the members of a household, as in 三口人 "three people".

💬 With close relationships, you can drop 的 and put 你 directly before the noun: 你家 instead of 你的家. 我媽媽 "my mom" works the same way.

🇹🇼 Asking about someone's family is a normal, friendly early question in Taiwan, much like asking where someone is from.

💬 四口人 counts everyone in the household, including yourself.

💬 Use 有 "have" to say how many people are in a family, never 是. Swap in any number: 我家有三口人 "There are three people in my family."

💬 Add 嗎 (ma) to the end of a statement to turn it into a yes/no question: 你有車嗎？ "Do you have a car?"

💬 Here 一 is said (yí), not (yī), because it comes before a falling tone: 一個 (yí ge). Chinese always uses older or younger sibling words, such as 哥哥 or 弟弟 "younger brother", rather than one word for "brother".

💬 Use 兩 (liǎng), not 二 (èr), to say "two" before a counting word like 個: 兩個妹妹, 兩個人.

💬 獨生子 is literally "only-born son". A woman would say 我是獨生女 instead.

💬 Add 了 after the verb to show it has already happened, then 嗎 to make it a yes/no question. Answer 結婚了 "yes, married" or 還沒 "not yet".

🇹🇼 In Taiwan, older people often ask this early in a conversation, and it isn't considered rude. It's fine to answer briefly and move on.

💬 Add 嗎 at the end to turn a statement into a yes/no question. The word order stays the same: 你有哥哥嗎？ "Do you have an older brother?"

💬 和 "and" joins nouns only. Don't use it to join two sentences.

💬 The question word 什麼 "what" goes where the answer will go, so there's no word-order change. For example, 他做老師 "He works as a teacher" answers this question directly.

💬 Place 在 after 住 to show where someone lives. Put the place where 哪裡 "where" was: 住在台北 "live in Taipei".

💬 Put 一起 "together" before any verb to say you do it together: 一起吃飯 "eat together". Use 跟 "with" to name who you do it with.

🇹🇼 Grandparents living with their adult children's family is common in Taiwan. Saying this sounds normal and warm, not unusual.