How to Address Family Members in Mandarin Chinese

Families Titles Vocabularies:

Family relations can reach out over several generations and through many extensions. English terms for family members only consider two factors: generation and gender. While in English, there is only one way to say "aunt," for example, there are multiple ways to say "aunt" in Chinese depending on many factors. 

Is she your aunt on your mother's or father's side? Is she the eldest sibling? The youngest? Is she an aunt by blood or an in-law? All these questions are considered when figuring out the proper way to address a family member. Therefore, a family member's title is packed with lots of information!

The three main ways to refer to one's family is family/home 家(jiā), persons in my family 家人 (jiā rén), and family/household 家庭  (jiā tíng), the latter being the more formal.

In Chinese culture, it is important to know how to correctly address a family member. Calling a family member by the wrong title can be considered impolite. And Chinese younger family member never address the elder member by the latter's personal name, though the former know the full name, but use the families title term. It's a matter of courtesy and respect within the family's tree. 

Following is a list of Mandarin Chinese names of extended family members, and each entry is accompanied by an audio file for pronunciation and listening practice. Note that there are other terms used to address family members within each regional language and dialect. For your information, Mandarin is only one of the popular dialects among the Chinese race, which is proclaimed/elevated to be the status of national language in China. 

Chinese Family Tree

Zǔ Fù

English: Paternal Grandfather, or father's father

Pinyin: zǔfù

Chinese: 祖父

 Pronunciation  ( click here ) 

Zǔ Mǔ

English: Paternal Grandmother, or father's mother

Pinyin: zǔmǔ

Chinese: 祖母

Wài Gōng

English: Maternal Grandfather, or mother's father

Pinyin: wài gōng

Chinese: 外公

Wài Pó

English: Maternal Grandmother, or mother's mother

Pinyin: wài pó

Chinese: 外婆

Bó Fù

English: Uncle, specifically father's older brother

Pinyin: bó fù

Chinese: 伯父

Bó Mǔ

English: Aunt, specifically father's older brother's wife

Pinyin: bó mǔ

Chinese: 伯母

Shū Fù

English: Uncle, specifically father's younger brother

Pinyin: shū fù

Chinese: 叔父

Shěn Shěn

English: Aunt, specifically father's younger brother's wife, shū fù's wife (寿夫的妻子 Shòufū de qīzi)

Pinyin: shěn shěn

Traditional Chinese: 嬸嬸

Simplified Chinese: 婶婶

Jiù Jiu

English: Uncle, specifically mother's older brother (大舅 Dàjiu) or mother's younger brother ( 小舅 xiǎo jiu)

Pinyin: jiù jiu

Chinese: 舅舅

Jiù Mā

English: Aunt, specifically the mother's brother's wife

Pinyin: jiù mā

Traditional Chinese: 舅媽

Simplified Chinese: 舅妈

Āyí

English: Aunt, specifically mother's younger sister  ( 小姨 xiǎo yí )

Pinyin: āyí

Chinese: 阿姨

Yí Zhàng

English: Uncle, specifically the mother's sister's husband
Pinyin: yí zhàng
Chinese: 姨丈

Gū Mā

English: Aunt, specifically father's sister

Pinyin: gū mā

Traditional Chinese: 姑媽

Simplified Chinese: 姑妈

Gū Zhàng

English: Uncle, specifically father's sister's husband

Pinyin: gū zhàng

Chinese families are strongly paternal and hierarchical. There is a title for every family relationship on both the mother's and father's side. This is a list of Mandarin Chinese names of immediate family members, and each entry is accompanied by an audio file for pronunciation and listening practice. Click here

English: Father

Pinyin: bàba

Chinese: 爸爸

English: Mother

Pinyin: māma

Traditional Chinese: 媽媽

Simplified Chinese: 妈妈

English: Older brother

Pinyin: gēge

Chinese: 哥哥

English: Younger brother

Pinyin: dìdi

Chinese: 弟弟

English: Older sister

Pinyin: jiě jie

Chinese: 姐姐

English: Younger sister

Pinyin: mèi mei

Chinese: 妹妹

English: Son

Pinyin: ér zi

Traditional Chinese: 兒子

Simplified Chinese: 儿子

English: Daughter

Pinyin: nǚ ér

Traditional Chinese: 女兒

Simplified Chinese: 女儿