Family
Family
Chinese kinship terms are far more precise than English's — not just splitting grandparents by which side of the family they're on, but requiring even siblings to be named by relative age, something English never requires.
Grammar Comparison
Grammar Comparison
No generic word for "brother" or "sister"
哥哥 (older brother), 弟弟 (younger brother), 姐姐 (older sister), 妹妹 (younger sister)
brother, brother, sister, sister (English doesn't distinguish age)
English "brother" and "sister" say nothing about age relative to you. Chinese has no equivalent generic word at all — you're required to know and specify whether a sibling is older or younger: 哥哥 (gēge) is specifically an older brother, 弟弟 (dìdi) a younger brother, and the same older/younger split applies to sisters (姐姐/妹妹). If you don't know someone's exact birth order relative to their sibling, you genuinely can't say "brother" in Chinese the vague way English allows.
Grandparents split by side of the family — with regional variation on top
爷爷 (paternal grandfather), 奶奶 (paternal grandmother) — 外公/姥爷 (maternal grandfather), 外婆/姥姥 (maternal grandmother)
grandfather, grandmother (English has no equivalent split)
Chinese has entirely separate words depending on whether a grandparent is on your father's or mother's side — a split English's single "grandfather"/"grandmother" never makes. The paternal side uses 爷爷 (yéye) and 奶奶 (nǎinai). The maternal side has two common variants depending on region: 外公/外婆 (wàigōng/wàipó) is standard in most of mainland China, while 姥爷/姥姥 (lǎoye/lǎolao) is common in northern China, including Beijing. Either pair is understood everywhere.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
- English
- family
- English
- dad
- English
- mom
- English
- older brother
- English
- younger brother
- English
- older sister
- English
- younger sister
- English
- son
- English
- daughter
- English
- grandfather (father's side)
- English
- grandmother (father's side)
- English
- grandfather (mother's side)
- English
- grandmother (mother's side)