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Daily lessons · Day 12 of 90
Your family
Talking about people close to you
Family comes up within minutes of meeting anyone in China, and the questions are more direct than a British conversation would allow. The vocabulary is small and the grammar is one verb you already know.
How many of you
口 is the measure word for people in a household. Elsewhere use 个.
Why it works
有 is the verb for having, and its negative is always 没有. 不有 does not exist in Chinese. 口 is a mouth, and counting a household by mouths is old enough that nobody thinks about the image any more, much the way English counts a herd by head. 两 rather than 二 here, the distinction from day 4. Two of anything is always 两.
Who they are
Chinese marks older and younger as different words, not as extra adjectives.
Why it works
There is no general word for brother or sister that ignores age. You have to know which is older, because the words are different, and the full set for aunts, uncles and cousins runs to dozens of terms that also distinguish the mother's side from the father's. For now the four above cover nearly every conversation you will have.
Saying more about them
Enough to keep the conversation going once the numbers are done.
Why it works
Notice that 我妈妈 has no 的 in it. Possession normally takes 的, but with close family and other relationships you cannot choose, the 的 is dropped. Saying 我的妈妈 is not wrong, it just sounds like you are making a point of whose mother she is.
Direct questions are not rudeness
Age, marital status, whether you have children and sometimes salary come up early with people you have just met. It is not an interrogation, it is how a stranger works out how to place you and how to address you. You are allowed to answer vaguely, and 还没有, hái méiyǒu, not yet, closes most of them politely.
Carried over from earlier days
Say each one out loud before you look at the English.
Today’s words 12
Check yourself
8 questions. Get 6 right to finish the day.
Which measure word counts people in a family?
- 口 kǒu
- 个 gè
- 杯 bēi
- 本 běn
Show the answer
口 kǒu 口 is a mouth, used for members of a household.
Type I have one older sister in pinyin.
Show the answer
wǒ yǒu yí gè jiějie 一 rises to yí before the fourth tone in 个.
What is the negative of 有?
- 没有 méiyǒu
- 不有 bù yǒu
- 不是 bú shì
- 没是 méi shì
Show the answer
没有 méiyǒu 没有 always. 不有 does not exist.
Which word means older brother?
- 哥哥 gēge
- 弟弟 dìdi
- 姐姐 jiějie
- 妹妹 mèimei
Show the answer
哥哥 gēge 弟弟 is a younger brother. Chinese has no age-neutral word.
Why is there no 的 in 我妈妈?
- close family relationships normally drop it
- 的 is only used in writing
- 妈妈 is already possessive
- 的 would make it plural
Show the answer
close family relationships normally drop it 我的妈妈 is not wrong, it just emphasises whose.
Someone asks 你结婚了吗 five minutes after meeting you. What is going on?
- it is a normal early question in China, not an intrusion
- they are flirting
- they have misunderstood you
- it is considered rude in China too
Show the answer
it is a normal early question in China, not an intrusion 还没有 is a polite way to leave it there.
Which is correct for I have two children?
- 我有两个孩子 wǒ yǒu liǎng gè háizi
- 我有二个孩子 wǒ yǒu èr gè háizi
- 我有孩子两个 wǒ yǒu háizi liǎng gè
- 我两个有孩子 wǒ liǎng gè yǒu háizi
Show the answer
我有两个孩子 wǒ yǒu liǎng gè háizi 两 for quantities, and the measure word before the noun.
Type how many people are in your family in pinyin.
Show the answer
nǐ jiā yǒu jǐ kǒu rén 几 for a small expected number, and 口 for household members.
Question 1 of 8
Writing practice optional
Every character from today, in the order it came up. Watch it, trace it, then write it from memory.
Press Watch to see the stroke order.
Stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi via Hanzi Writer, Arphic Public License.
Character 1 of 33
This lesson is written by an English speaker who learned Mandarin as a second language, and it is waiting on a check by a native speaker. If you spot something off, please tell us and we will fix it.