basic mandarin chinese | lesson 10 | talking about family

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Nǐ hǎo Lesson 10 on Basic Mandarin!


Revision

Rén = People

Translation Mandarin

Chinese people Zhōngguó rén

American people Měiguó rén

English people Yīngguó rén

French people Fǎguó rén


Revision

English Mandarin

Which Nǎ

Country Guó

Which country? Nǎ guó?

People Rén


Revision

English Mandarin

Mark Are you Chinese? Nǐ shì Zhōngguó rén ma?

Lisa Yes, I am Shì

Lisa Where are you from? Nǐ shì nǎ guó rén

Mark I am from Japan Wǒ shì Riběn rén


Lesson objectives

1 Familial Relations


What's in store today?

Today we will learn the vocabulary for familial relations, and also see the use

of the possessive particle 'de' with respect to family!


What's in store today?

Let’s begin with vocabulary!


Familial relations

Jiā is pronounced using thehigh level tone

Home

Jiā


Familial relations

Bàba is pronounced using thefalling tone

Father

Bàba


Familial relations

Māma is pronounced using thehigh level tone

Mother

Māma


Familial relations

Érzi is pronounced using themid rising tone

Son

Érzi


Familial relations

Nǚ’er is pronounced using thefalling rising tone

Daughter

Nǚ’er


Revision

English Mandarin

Family, home Jiā

Father Bàba

Mother Māma

Son Érzi

Daughter Nǚ’er


Grammar tip

Mandarin uses different vocabulary for addressing an elder sister/ brother

versus a younger sister/ brother

Let’s learn what they are called in Mandarin!


Familial relations

Jiějie is pronounced using thefalling rising tone

Elder sister

Jiějie


Familial relations

Mèimei is pronounced using the falling tone

Younger sister

Mèimei


Familial relations

Gēge is pronounced using the high level tone

Elder brother

Gēge


Familial relations

Dìdi is pronounced usingthe falling tone

Younger brother

Dìdi


Revision

English Mandarin

Elder sister Jiějie

Younger sister Mèimei

Elder brother Gēge

Younger brother Dìdi


Let's see if you remember…


Pick the right option

How do we say 'Home'?

1

Érzi

2

Gēge

3

Jiā


Solution

How do we say 'Home'?

1

Érzi

2

Gēge

3

Jiā



How do we say 'Son'?

1

Érzi

2

Gēge

3

Jiā


Solution

How do we say 'Son'?

1

Érzi

2

Gēge

3

Jiā



How do we say 'Younger sister'?

1

Mèimei

2

Jiějie

3

Dìdi


Solution

How do we say 'Younger sister'?

1

Mèimei

2

Jiějie

3

Dìdi



How do we say 'Older brother'?

1

Gēge

2

Jiějie

3

Dìdi


Solution

How do we say 'Older brother'?

1

Gēge

2

Jiějie

3

Dìdi


Moving on…

Now let us try and have a basic conversation!

Let’s see how do we ask about relations!


Familial relations

Is she your elder sister?


Familial relations

Is she your elder sister ?

↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓

Shì tā nǐ jiějie ma?


Familial relations

Literally, 'She is your elder sister?'


Tā shì nǐ jiějie ma?


Grammar tip

One can also omit the ‘your’ and just say ‘she is elder sister?’, in Mandarin to

convey the same meaning


Familial relations

Literally, 'She is elder sister?'


Tā shì jiějie ma?


Familial relations

Yes, she is


Familial relations

Yes, she is

Tā shì


Familial relations

He is my father

↓ ↓ ↓ ↓

Tā shì wǒ bàba


Familial relations

He is my father

Tā shì wǒ bàba


Moving on…

Lets learn how to say a few other phrases regarding family


Familial relations

My mother


Familial relations

I mother

↓ ↓

Wǒ de (possessive pronoun) māma


Familial relations

Literally, ‘I (possessive) mother'

My mother

Wǒ de māma


Grammar tip

Recall that the particle ‘de’ , is a possessive particle, used in

possessive pronouns, example (mine = wǒ de)

It is also used for emphasis


Grammar tip

The particle ‘de’ is often omitted in colloquial speech after a personal

pronoun and before a kinship term

Lets look at a few examples


Familial relations

English Mandarin Colloquial

My home Wǒ de jiā Wǒ jiā

My father Wǒ de bàba Wǒ bàba

My mother Wǒ de māma Wǒ māma

My son Wǒ de érzi Wǒ érzi

My daughter Wǒ de nǚ’er Wǒ nǚ’er

My elder brother Wǒ de gēge Wǒ gēge

My younger brother Wǒ de dìdi Wǒ dìdi

My elder sister Wǒ de jiějie Wǒ jiějie

My younger sister Wǒ de mèimei Wǒ mèimei


Revision

Let's have a small familial conversation and revise what we have learnt today!


Revision

English Mandarin

Mark Hello! Nǐ hǎo

Lisa How are you? Nǐ hǎo ma?

Mark I am good! Is she your sister? Wǒ hěn hǎo!Tā shì jiějie ma?

Lisa Yes,she is Tā shì

Mark Hello! He is my father! Nǐ hǎo!Tā shì wǒ bàba


Let's see if you remember…



How do we say 'Is he your father?'

1

Tā shì bàba ma?

2


3

Tā shì gēge ma?


Solution

How do we say 'Is he your father?'

1

Tā shì bàba ma?

2


3

Tā shì gēge ma?



How do we say 'She is my mother', in Mandarin?

1

Tā shì jiějie ma

2

Tā shì wǒ māma

3

Tā shì wǒ bàba


Solution

How do we say 'She is my mother', in Mandarin?

1

Tā shì jiějie ma

2

Tā shì wǒ māma

3

Tā shì wǒ bàba



How do we say 'My father', formally?

1

Wǒ de bàba

2

Wǒ bàba

3

Wǒ de gēge


Solution

How do we say 'My father', formally?

1

Wǒ de bàba

2

Wǒ bàba

3

Wǒ de gēge



How do we say 'My daughter', informally?

1

Wǒ de nǚ’er

2

Wǒ nǚ’er

3

Wǒ érzi


Solution

How do we say 'My daughter', informally?

1

Wǒ de nǚ’er

2

Wǒ nǚ’er

3

Wǒ érzi


Culture leaf


Culture leaf

Since 20th century, especially, the year of 1949, Chinese family has

gotten great change

The modern Chinese family pattern varies, and it develops mainly towards

small-size and direct line


Culture leaf

Most of the families in the town consist of couple and one or two children, while

in country the extended families are still superior with three or more

than three generations


What's next?

In the next lesson we will learn numerals and use them

in conversations!


Credits

Content Team CultureAlley, Sunny Dang


See you at the Alley!


basic mandarin chinese | lesson 10 | talking about family

Travel

thehigh level

thefalling

sh jijie ma

sh gge ma

sh bba ma

jijie ma

younger brother

elder brother