Family

Family members are sort of important, wouldn't you agree?  So let's learn how to talk about them!  Let's start off with some basic vocab:

家庭 jia1 ting2

family

爸爸 ba4 ba5

dad

妈妈 ma1 ma5

mom

哥哥 ge4 ge5

older brother

弟弟 di4 di5

younger brother

姐姐 jie3 jie5

older sister

妹妹 mei4 mei5

younger sister

爷爷 ye2 ye5

father's dad

奶奶 nai3 nai5

father's mom

外公 wai4 gong1

mother's dad

外婆 wai4 po2

mother's mom

You probably noticed that there are different words for grandparents depending on whose parents they are.  China is one of those countries with tons of names just for family members, although you don't need to know all of them in order to get by.  Just knowing the ones above is enough.

Another important thing to notice is that often, the names are repeats of the same word, only the second time, the tone becomes neutral.  Chinese people realize it is hard to say the same tone twice in a row (especially third tone!).  So they have agreed that the repeated word would use the neutral tone to make it easier to pronounce instead of whatever other tone it may be using.  

In fact, since this is the correct way to pronounce these words, don't try to overachieve, since native Chinese speakers will look at you funny.  (Exactly what happened to me!)  If you want to sound more like a native, make sure to use the neutral tone.

Want a cool exercise?  Try to name all the members in the families in the pictures above!  See if you can do it again, but this time while covering the list.  Can you do it?  

If you want how to address someone I didn't mention here, check out this fun website!

http://www.mandarintools.com/family.html

再见！