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.

Father

English: Father
Pinyin: bàba
Chinese: 爸爸

Audio Pronunciation

Mother

English: Mother
Pinyin: māma
Traditional Chinese: 媽媽
Simplified Chinese: 妈妈

Audio Pronunciation

Older Brother

English: Older brother
Pinyin: gēge
Chinese: 哥哥

Audio Pronunciation

Younger Brother

English: Younger brother
Pinyin: dìdi
Chinese: 弟弟

Audio Pronunciation

Older Sister

English: Older sister
Pinyin: jiě jie
Chinese: 姐姐

Audio Pronunciation

Younger Sister

English: Younger sister
Pinyin: mèi mei
Chinese: 妹妹

Audio Pronunciation

Son

English: Son
Pinyin: ér zi
Traditional Chinese: 兒子
Simplified Chinese: 儿子

Audio Pronunciation

Daughter

English: Daughter
Pinyin: nǚ ér
Traditional Chinese: 女兒
Simplified Chinese: 女儿

Audio Pronunciation