Family Words in Chinese
Chinese splits relatives by age and side of the family in a way English never does. Learn the words, and the one rule that trips up every beginner.
English gives you one word for a male sibling. Chinese gives you two, and you have to choose.
The rule English doesn’t have
In Chinese you cannot say “brother” or “sister” without saying whether they are older or younger than you. 哥哥 gēge is an older brother, 弟弟 dìdi is a younger brother. 姐姐 jiějie is an older sister, 妹妹 mèimei is a younger sister. There is no neutral word that covers both.
This is not a vocabulary gap. It is the point. Chinese kinship terms encode relative age, and the same logic runs through the whole family tree — 儿子 and 女儿 distinguish sons from daughters, and 妻子 and 丈夫 distinguish wife from husband, where English can lean on a pronoun.
The words
Every one of these has its own page with the character’s origin story — click any character above.
| Character | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 爸爸 | bàba | dad | HSK 1 |
| 妈妈 | māma | mom | HSK 1 |
| 哥哥 | gēge | older brother | HSK 2 |
| 弟弟 | dìdi | younger brother | HSK 2 |
| 姐姐 | jiějie | older sister | HSK 2 |
| 妹妹 | mèimei | younger sister; young woman | HSK 2 |
| 儿子 | érzi | son | HSK 1 |
| 女儿 | nǚ'ér | daughter | HSK 1 |
| 妻子 | qīzi | wife | HSK 2 |
| 丈夫 | zhàngfu | husband | HSK 2 |
| 家 | jiā | home, family | HSK 1 |
| 人 | rén | person | HSK 1 |
| 朋友 | péngyou | friend | HSK 1 |
What to do about it
You cannot avoid the choice, so learn the pairs together. When you meet a Chinese friend’s sibling, the first question is usually whether they are older or younger — not because it is polite small talk, but because there is no way to refer to them otherwise.
The good news: the pattern is completely regular. 哥 and 弟 for brothers, 姐 and 妹 for sisters, and the first character carries the age, the second carries the gender.
Common mistakes
- Calling a younger brother 哥哥 — It is not a synonym for “brother.” Using the wrong one is like calling someone “big brother” when they are two years younger — it sounds wrong immediately.
- Assuming 家 means “house” only — 家 jiā is both the physical home and the family itself. 我回家 means going home; 我们家人 means the people in your family.
- Forgetting 妈妈 and 爸爸 are informal — They are the everyday words, the equivalent of “mum” and “dad.” Formal writing uses 母亲 and 父亲, which are beyond HSK 1–2 but worth recognising.
In a sentence
- 我有两个哥哥。 Wǒ yǒu liǎng gè gēge.
I have two older brothers. - 她是我妹妹。 Tā shì wǒ mèimei.
She is my younger sister. - 我家有四个人。 Wǒ jiā yǒu sì gè rén.
There are four people in my family.