My
family
ka3luo4si1, ni3 kuai4dianr3.
wo3men5 yao4 chi2dao4 le5.
你家有几口人
Charles,
hurry up. We are going to be late.
The adverb
要 "yao4"
and the expletive particle 了
"le5"
conform the structure 要
...... 了
, that denotes the
immenence of an action. For example:
Wan3hui4 yao4 kai1shi3
le5
晚会要开始了。
The party is going
to begin.
Fei1ji1 yao4 dao4 le5
飞机要到了。
The aeroplane is
going to arrive.
Bie2 zhao2ji2, shi2jian1
hai2 zao3 ne5.
我家有七口人，爸爸、妈妈、哥哥、姐姐、
妹妹、弟弟和我。
Don't worry, it is
still early .
Bu5 zao3 le5, fei1ji1
yao4 dao4 le5.
你排行第几
It is not early,
the aeroplane will arrive soon.
Mei2guan1xi4, lai2de5ji2.
我是老三。
It doesn't matter,
we'll have time.
Asking and
responding to questions about older brothers and sisters
你排行第几
?
我是 ......
lao3da4
老大
The older
brother or sister
lao3er4,lao3san1,lao3si4
老二，老三，老四
The second, the third
or the fourth
lao3xiao3
老小
The youngest
In china, families are
quite complicated. There is a clear differentiation between the paternal
branch and the maternal branch.
In this lesson we are
going to look at the most important family members.
Paternal
Branch |
| |
|
|
Indirect Term
(written form)
|
Direct
Term |
English
|
| |
|
|
Zhang4fu5
丈夫 |
Lao3gong1,
ai4ren2
老公，爱人
|
Husband
|
|
|
|
Fu4qin5
父亲 |
Ba4ba5
爸爸 |
Father
|
|
|
|
Zu3fu4
祖父 |
Ye2ye5
爷爷 |
Grandfather
(dad side) |
|
|
|
Zu3mu3
祖母 |
Nai3nai5
奶奶 |
Grandmotehr
(dad side) |
|
|
|
Gong1gong5
公公 |
Ba4ba5
爸爸 |
Father
in law (husband's father) |
|
|
|
Po2po5
婆婆 |
Ma1ma5
妈妈 |
Mother
in law (mother's husband) |
|
|
|
Sun1zi5
孙子 |
Sun1zi4
孙子 |
Grandson
|
|
|
|
Sun1nüer5
孙女儿 |
Sun1nuer
孙女儿 |
Grandaughter
|
| |
| |
Maternal
Branch |
| |
|
|
Indirect Term
(written form)
|
Direct Term |
English |
| |
|
|
Qi1zi3
妻子 |
Lao3po5,
ai4ren2
老婆，爱人
|
Wife
|
|
|
|
Mu3qin1
母亲 |
Ma1ma5
妈妈 |
Mother
|
|
|
|
Wai4zu3fu4
外祖父 |
Wai4gong1
外公
(in the south
of China)
lao3ye5
老爷
(in the north
of China) |
Grandfather
(from your mum) |
|
|
|
Wai4zu3mu3
外祖母 |
Wai4po2
外婆
(in the south
of China)
lao3lao5
姥姥
(in the north
of China) |
Grandmother
(from your mum) |
|
|
|
Yue4fu4
岳父 |
Ba4ba5
爸爸 |
Father
in law |
|
|
|
Yue4mu3
岳母 |
Ma1ma5
妈妈 |
Mother
in law |
|
|
|
Wai4sun1zi5
外孙子 |
Wai4sun1zi5
外孙子 |
Grandson
|
|
|
|
Wai4sun1nüer5
外孙女儿 |
Wai4sun1nüer5
外孙女儿 |
Grandaughter
|
Vocabulary
English
|
Chinese
(phonetic) |
Chinese
(written) |
| |
|
|
Family,
house |
Jia1
|
家 |
How
much |
Ji3
|
几 |
Mouth,
|
Kou3
|
口 |
Older
brother |
Ge1ge5
|
哥哥 |
Younger
brother |
Di4di5
|
弟弟 |
Older
sister |
Jie3jie5
|
姐姐 |
Younger
sister |
Mei4mei5
|
妹妹
|
Chinese
Character of the day
