Family & Relationships 👨👩👧 家人 — The Heart of Chinese Culture
Chinese people love talking about family — it's how they connect. Learn to describe your family and ask about others'. Warning: expect lots of questions!
👨👩👧 Family Tree💬 18 Key Words🧠 Culture Note⏱ ~12 min
🌳 Family Tree
Click Each Member to Hear the Word
一个典型的中国家庭 · A Typical Chinese Family
👴
爷爷
yéye
Grandpa (Dad's side)
👵
奶奶
nǎinai
Grandma (Dad's side)
👵
姥姥
lǎolao
Grandma (Mom's side)
↓
👨
爸爸
bàba
Dad
👩
妈妈
māma
Mom
↓
🧑
哥哥
gēge
Older Brother
👧
姐姐
jiějie
Older Sister
😊
我
wǒ
Me / I
👦
弟弟
dìdi
Younger Brother
👧
妹妹
mèimei
Younger Sister
↓
💍
丈夫
zhàngfu
Husband
💍
妻子
qīzi
Wife
👦
儿子
érzi
Son
👧
女儿
nǚ'ér
Daughter
💬 Vocab
More Family & Relationships
📝 Sentences
Key Sentences — Click to Hear
💡 These 6 sentences will cover 90% of family conversations
🇨🇳 Culture Note — Why Chinese Ask So Many Family Questions
In Chinese culture, asking 「你结婚了吗？」 (Are you married?) or 「你有孩子吗？」 (Do you have kids?) is completely normal — it's not rude, it's how people show they care and build connection. Don't be surprised if a stranger asks within the first 5 minutes! The polite response is to answer and ask back: 「你呢？」 (And you?)
💡
老公 & 老婆 vs 丈夫 & 妻子: In everyday speech, almost everyone says 老公 (husband) and 老婆 (wife) — warm and casual. 丈夫 and 妻子 are formal/written Chinese. You'll mostly see those in documents or news articles, not in real conversation!
💡
Memory trick for siblings: 哥 (gē) and 姐 (jiě) = OLDER (bigger sound, older person). 弟 (dì) and 妹 (mèi) = YOUNGER. Add 哥哥/姐姐 for older, 弟弟/妹妹 for younger — the double is always the casual spoken form!
💬 Dialogue
Talking About Family with a New Friend
Sit back and listen to the whole chat
🎯 Practice
Shadowing Drill
🔁 Say it out loud!
Your Course Progress
Lesson 8 / 12 — You can now talk about family in Chinese! 👨👩👧