Chinese family vocabulary is notoriously complex — different words for maternal vs paternal relatives, older vs younger siblings. Here's the complete guide.
One of the first things language learners notice when studying Chinese is that family vocabulary doesn't behave like it does in English. Where English has "uncle" to cover four different relationships (father's brother, mother's brother, and their equivalent by marriage), Chinese has 伯父 (bófù), 叔父 (shūfù), 舅父 (jiùfù), and 姑父 (gūfù) — four distinct words for four distinct relationships. Where English has "grandmother," Chinese has 祖母 (zǔmǔ) or 奶奶 (nǎinai) for the paternal grandmother and 外祖母 (wàizǔmǔ) or 姥姥 (lǎolao) for the maternal grandmother.
This precision is not arbitrary complexity. It reflects a social system in which the exact nature of a family relationship — which side of the family, relative age, generational position — carries specific social meaning: different levels of closeness, different obligations, different modes of address. Learning Chinese family vocabulary properly means learning something real about how family relationships are conceptualised and navigated in Chinese society.
Chinese kinship terminology is structured around two main axes that don't exist in English family vocabulary: paternal vs maternal side, and older vs younger relative to yourself or your parents.
The paternal/maternal distinction: Chinese consistently distinguishes between relatives on the father's side (父系, fùxì) and relatives on the mother's side (母系, mǔxì). Your father's parents, siblings, and their children are categorised differently from your mother's parents, siblings, and their children. This is why 奶奶 (nǎinai, paternal grandmother) and 姥姥 (lǎolao, maternal grandmother) are different words.
The older/younger distinction: for siblings and some other relatives, age relative to the reference person is built into the word itself. 哥哥 (gēge) means older brother; 弟弟 (dìdi) means younger brother. 姐姐 (jiějie) means older sister; 妹妹 (mèimei) means younger sister. This applies to cousins and other extended family members too. You can never just say "brother" in Chinese without specifying whether he is older or younger.
父亲 (fùqīn) / 爸爸 (bàba) — father: 父亲 is the formal/written term; 爸爸 is the everyday spoken form used by children and adults addressing their own father. 老爸 (lǎobà) is informal and affectionate.
母亲 (mǔqīn) / 妈妈 (māma) — mother: Same pattern — 母亲 formal/written, 妈妈 everyday spoken. 老妈 (lǎomā) informal.
哥哥 (gēge) — older brother: Also written as 兄 (xiōng) in formal or literary contexts. 大哥 (dàgē) specifically means eldest brother.
弟弟 (dìdi) — younger brother: Literary form 弟 (dì). 小弟 (xiǎodì) is an informal term for the youngest brother.
姐姐 (jiějie) — older sister: Literary form 姐 (jiě). 大姐 (dàjiě) is the eldest sister.
妹妹 (mèimei) — younger sister: Literary form 妹 (mèi).
儿子 (érzi) — son
女儿 (nǚ'ér) — daughter
孩子 (háizi) — child / children
独生子女 (dúshēng zǐnǚ) — only child — historically significant given China's one-child policy era
爷爷 (yéye) — paternal grandfather: Formal: 祖父 (zǔfù)
奶奶 (nǎinai) — paternal grandmother: Formal: 祖母 (zǔmǔ)
姥爷 (lǎoye) — maternal grandfather: Formal: 外祖父 (wàizǔfù); in some regions also 外公 (wàigōng)
姥姥 (lǎolao) — maternal grandmother: Formal: 外祖母 (wàizǔmǔ); in some regions also 外婆 (wàipó)
Note the regional variation: northern Mandarin tends to use 姥爷/姥姥 for maternal grandparents; southern Mandarin and Taiwan more commonly use 外公/外婆. Neither is wrong — regional variation in kinship terms is common and both forms are widely understood.
This is where Chinese kinship terminology most strikingly diverges from English. What English collapses into "aunt" and "uncle" Chinese specifies precisely:
伯父 (bófù) / 大伯 (dàbó) — father's older brother
叔父 (shūfù) / 叔叔 (shūshu) — father's younger brother
姑父 (gūfù) — husband of father's sister
姑姑 (gūgu) / 姑妈 (gūmā) — father's sister
舅舅 (jiùjiu) / 舅父 (jiùfù) — mother's brother
舅妈 (jiùmā) — wife of mother's brother
姨夫 (yífū) — husband of mother's sister
姨妈 (yímā) / 阿姨 (āyí) — mother's sister
In practice, the formal two-character terms (伯父, 叔父) are used in more formal or written contexts; the colloquial forms (叔叔, 姑姑, 舅舅) are the everyday spoken norms. 阿姨 (āyí) is worth noting: it literally means mother's sister but is widely used as a polite way to address any older woman in a social context — a neighbour, a friend's mother, a cleaning staff member.
The cousin system is similarly precise. Chinese distinguishes between cousins on the paternal side (堂, táng — literally same clan) and cousins on the maternal side (表, biǎo — outside/external clan), and further distinguishes gender and relative age:
堂兄 (táng xiōng) — male cousin (paternal side), older than you
堂弟 (táng dì) — male cousin (paternal side), younger than you
堂姐 (táng jiě) — female cousin (paternal side), older than you
堂妹 (táng mèi) — female cousin (paternal side), younger than you
表兄 (biǎo xiōng) — male cousin (maternal side), older than you
表弟 (biǎo dì) — male cousin (maternal side), younger than you
表姐 (biǎo jiě) — female cousin (maternal side), older than you
表妹 (biǎo mèi) — female cousin (maternal side), younger than you
In casual conversation, people often simplify: 表哥 (biǎo gē) for any older male cousin on the maternal side, or even just 哥 (gē) as a familiar address. The full precision is used in formal introductions or when the distinction matters contextually.
Marriage creates a second vocabulary set:
丈夫 (zhàngfu) — husband (colloquially 老公 lǎogōng)
妻子 (qīzi) — wife (colloquially 老婆 lǎopó)
公公 (gōnggong) — husband's father (father-in-law)
婆婆 (pópo) — husband's mother (mother-in-law)
岳父 (yuèfù) — wife's father (father-in-law)
岳母 (yuèmǔ) — wife's mother (mother-in-law)
嫂子 (sǎozi) — sister-in-law (older brother's wife)
弟媳 (dìxí) — sister-in-law (younger brother's wife)
大姑子 (dàgūzi) — sister-in-law (husband's older sister)
小姑子 (xiǎogūzi) — sister-in-law (husband's younger sister)
大舅子 (dàjiùzi) — brother-in-law (wife's older brother)
The public shorthand: in modern Chinese, 老公 and 老婆 are the standard colloquial terms for husband and wife — direct, warm, and used constantly. 丈夫 and 妻子 are the formal equivalents used in official documents and more formal speech.
An important distinction in Chinese kinship vocabulary: terms of address (how you call someone directly) vs terms of reference (how you refer to them when speaking about them to a third party). These are often the same but not always, and the level of formality differs.
When speaking to your father directly: 爸爸 or 爸. When referring to your father to someone else: 我父亲 (my father, formal), 我爸 (my dad, casual), 家父 (jiāfù, my father — humble/formal), 令尊 (lìngzūn, your honourable father — when referring to someone else's father with respect).
Chinese has a rich vocabulary of humble and honorific terms for family members — terms you use about your own family (humble) vs terms you use about someone else's family (respectful). 家父/家母 (my humble father/mother), 令尊/令堂 (your honourable father/mother), 舍弟/舍妹 (my unworthy younger brother/sister). These appear frequently in formal writing and correspondence and are worth knowing at intermediate-advanced level.
Beyond the family itself, Chinese kinship terms extend into social address in ways that English does not. Calling an older man 大爷 (dàye) or 叔叔 expresses respect; calling an older woman 阿姨 or 奶奶 expresses warmth and social closeness. Calling a slightly older peer 哥哥 or 姐姐 establishes a friendly, close social register. These extended uses of kinship terms in address are natural and very common — Chinese society uses the family vocabulary as a template for expressing social warmth and status.
This is why you frequently hear 小朋友 (xiǎopéngyou, little friend — addressing a child), 大姐 (addressing a middle-aged woman), 老师 (addressing a teacher — technically a professional title, not a kinship term, but functioning in the same social-address role). Understanding these address conventions is as important for practical communication as memorising the biological kinship vocabulary.
The kinship terms are most effectively learned in batches organised by relationship cluster: maternal grandparents together, paternal grandparents together, father's siblings and their spouses together, and so on. Drawing a family tree diagram and labelling each relationship in Chinese is a classic and highly effective technique — the visual spatial layout of the family tree maps directly to the logical structure of the vocabulary.
Reading Chinese family drama narratives — a genre that dominates Chinese television and literature — provides excellent contextual exposure to kinship vocabulary in use. Characters address each other constantly by kinship terms, reference family members throughout dialogue, and navigate the social dynamics of extended family life in ways that make the vocabulary memorable. The HSK 3 Lantern Festival story includes family reunion scenes with authentic family vocabulary. The HSK 1 Huangshan Adventure series introduces the most basic family terms in natural conversation. The Grammar section covers the possessive structures (我的 + kinship term) that you need to talk about your own family correctly.
Learn family vocabulary and hundreds of other essential terms through graded Chinese stories with native audio on Dumplingo. Start reading →