Learn how to talk about your family
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| Welcome to Can-Do Chinese by ChineseClass101.com. |
| 大家好，我是你们的老师李殷如。(Dàjiā hǎo , wǒ shì nǐmen de lǎoshī Lǐ Yīnrú.) |
| Hi everyone! I'm your teacher, Yinru Li. |
| In this lesson you’ll learn how to introduce your family in Chinese. |
| explain the characters and context of the conversation |
| This is Ben Lee, and this is his family. His father, his mother and his younger sister. |
| Ben is in a Chinese lesson, and the teacher asks him, |
| “How many people are there in your family?” |
| “你的家里有几口人?” (Nǐ de jiālǐ yǒu jǐ kǒu rén?) |
| Listen to the conversation, and focus on the response. |
| 老师: 你的家里有几口人？(Lǎoshī: Nǐ de jiālǐ yǒu jǐ kǒu rén?) |
| 本李: 我的家里有四口人. 我的爸爸, 我的妈妈, 我的妹妹和我. |
| (Běn Lǐ: Wǒ de jiālǐ yǒu sì kǒu rén. Wǒ de bàba, wǒ de māma, wǒ de mèimei hé wǒ.) |
| 本李: 我的家里有四口人. 我的爸爸, 我的妈妈, 我的妹妹和我. |
| (Wǒ de jiālǐ yǒu sì kǒu rén. Wǒ de bàba, wǒ de māma, wǒ de mèimei hé wǒ.) |
| Listen again to Ben’s response with the English translation. |
| 本李: 我的家里有四口人. 我的爸爸, 我的妈妈, 我的妹妹和我. |
| (Wǒ de jiālǐ yǒu sì kǒu rén. Wǒ de bàba, wǒ de māma, wǒ de mèimei hé wǒ.) |
| Ben Lee: There are four people in my family. My dad, my mom, my younger sister and me. |
| Let’s take a closer look at the question and the response. |
| First the question, the teacher asks Ben, “How many people are there in your family?” |
| 你的家里有几口人？ (Nǐ de jiālǐ yǒu jǐ kǒu rén?) |
| The key phrase here is 家里 (jiālǐ), “in the family” 家里 (jiālǐ) |
| This phrase is made up of 2 characters: 家 (jiā) family or home 家 (jiā), 里 (lǐ) means “in” or “at” 里 (lǐ) . Together 家里 (jiālǐ) means “in the family” 家里 (jiālǐ) |
| Remember this because you’ll see it again in Mark’s response. |
| 你的 (nǐde) means “your.” 你的 (nǐde) |
| 你 (nǐ) means “you.” 你 (nǐ) |
| and 的 is a possessive marking particle 的 (de) |
| together 你的 (nǐde) means “your,” 你的 (nǐde) |
| These two parts together 你的家里 (nǐde jiālǐ) means “in your family” 你的家里 (nǐde jiālǐ) |
| Next, 有 (yǒu) means “to have/has” or “there is/are” 有 (yǒu) in this case, “there are” |
| Last, 几口人 (jǐ kǒu rén) is translated as “how many people” |
| 几 (jǐ) means “how many” 几, 口 (kǒu) is the measure word used to count people 口, 人 (rén) means people 人. |
| All together, 你的家里有几口人？ (Nǐ de jiālǐ yǒu jǐ kǒu rén?) literally, “Your family in there are how many people?” |
| translated “How many people are there in your family?” 你的家里有几口人？ (Nǐ de jiālǐ yǒu jǐ kǒu rén?) |
| Remember this question. You’ll hear it again later. |
| Let’s take a closer look at the response. |
| Ben says, 我的家里有四口人. 我的爸爸, 我的妈妈, 我的妹妹和我. |
| (Wǒ de jiālǐ yǒu sì kǒu rén. Wǒ de bàba, wǒ de māma, wǒ de mèimei hé wǒ.) |
| “There are four people in my family. My dad, my mom, my younger sister and me.” |
| The first part of the response is 我的 “my” 我的 |
| The word 我 (wǒ) means “me,” 我 (wǒ); |
| and the second word 的 (de) is the possessive marking particle 的 (de) |
| Remember this phrase? 家里(jiālǐ), “in the family” 家里(jiālǐ) |
| Combining the first two parts of the response, 我的家里 (wǒ de jiālǐ) in my family 我的家里 (wǒ de jiālǐ) |
| Next is the word 有 (yǒu), “there are” 有 (yǒu), in this case. |
| Combining this part of the response with the others, |
| 我的家里有... (wǒ de jiālǐ yǒu...) “In my family, there are....” |
| 我的家里有... (wǒ de jiālǐ yǒu...) |
| This is an important pattern for your task. |
| 四口人 (sì kǒu rén) means “four people” |
| 四口人 (sì kǒu rén) |
| 四 (sì) means “four” |
| 四 (sì) |
| Again, 口 is the measure word used for people 口, 人 means “people” 人. |
| 我的家里有四口人. There are four people in my family. 我的家里有四口人. |
| We can use the pattern 我的家里 + 有 + （数字）口人 to say “in my family + there are + (number of) people”. |
| For example, for a family of 三 (san) three 三 |
| You say: 我的家里有三口人。My family has three people. 我的家里有三口人。 |
| In the second part, Ben talks about his family members. |
| 我的爸爸, 我的妈妈, 我的妹妹和我. My dad, my mom, my younger sister and me. |
| 我的 means “my” 我的. |
| 爸爸 (bàba) is “dad” 爸爸 |
| together 我的爸爸 is “my dad” 我的爸爸 |
| 妈妈 (māma) is “mom” 妈妈 |
| 我的妈妈, “my mom” 我的妈妈 |
| 妹妹 (mèimei) is “younger sister” 妹妹 |
| 我的妹妹 “my younger sister” 我的妹妹 |
| 和 (hé) means “and” 和 |
| 我 (wǒ) is “me” in this context 我 |
| Altogether 我的爸爸，我的妈妈，我的妹妹和我。In my family there are four people. My dad, my mom, my younger sister and me. 我的爸爸，我的妈妈，我的妹妹和我。 |
| Let’s look at some examples. |
| Mark Lee, Ben’s father |
| Karen Lee, Ben’s mother |
| First, do you remember the phrase for my? |
| 我的, my, 我的 |
| And the phrase for “in my family?“ |
| 我的家里, in my family, 我的家里 |
| And do you remember the word for “there are” |
| 有, there are, 有 |
| These are pieces to the key sentence pattern 我的家里有, “In my family, there are….,” 我的家里有 |
| Imagine you are Mark Lee, the father. |
| The number of people in your family is also 四口人 four people. 四口人 |
| Use the response pattern to say “There are 四口人 four people in my family.” |
| Now you try it. |
| Listen to the correct response: |
| Mark Lee: 我的家里有四口人。 |
| Listen again and repeat. |
| Mark Lee: 我的家里有四口人。 |
| There are four people in Mark’s family. Now, you will need the following vocabulary for family members to complete the next part. |
| 老婆 (lǎopo) “wife” 老婆 |
| 女儿 (nǚér) “daughter”, 女儿 |
| 儿子 (érzi) “son”儿子 |
| First, do you remember the phrase for “and me?” |
| 和我 and me 和我 |
| Use the second pattern to say, “My 老婆 wife, my 女儿 daughter, my 儿子 son and me. |
| Now you try it. |
| Listen to the correct response: |
| Mark Lee: 我的老婆，我的女儿，我的儿子和我。 |
| Listen again and repeat. |
| Mark Lee: 我的老婆，我的女儿，我的儿子和我。 |
| Let’s look at one more example: |
| Now, imagine you are Karen Lee, Ben’s mother. |
| The number of people in your family is also 四口人 four people. |
| There is one new vocabulary word, 老公 (lǎogōng) husband 老公 |
| show husband on screen |
| Say, “There are four people in my family. My 老公 husband 老公, my daughter, my son and me.” |
| Now you try it. |
| Listen to the correct response: |
| Karen Lee: 我的家里有四口人。我的老公，我的女儿，我的儿子和我。 |
| Listen again and repeat. |
| Karen Lee: 我的家里有四口人。我的老公，我的女儿，我的儿子和我。 |
| "Now, let’s practice with these 2 people:" |
| Sasha Lee, Ben’s younger sister |
| You, the newly adopted middle sibling of Ben and Sasha Lee |
| Remember the question by the teacher? |
| 老师: 你的家里有几口人？Nǐ de jiālǐ yǒu jǐ kǒu rén? |
| “How many people are there in your family?” |
| Remember this question. In this practice section, you’ll respond after the teacher’s question. |
| Imagine you're Sasha Lee. |
| There are four people in your family. Your mom, your dad, your older brother and you. |
| “older brother,” is a new word 哥哥 gēge , “older brother, 哥哥 gēge |
| After the teacher’s question, use the sentence pattern to say, |
| “There are four people in my family. My mom, my dad, my 哥哥 older brother 哥哥 and me.” |
| Ready? |
| 你的家里有几口人？Nǐ de jiālǐ yǒu jǐ kǒu rén? |
| The correct response is: |
| Sasha Lee: 我的家里有四口人。我的爸爸，我的妈妈，我的哥哥和我。 |
| Listen again and repeat. |
| Sasha Lee: 我的家里有四口人。我的爸爸，我的妈妈，我的哥哥和我。 |
| Let’s try one more. |
| You are now part of the Lee family. You are now the middle child. |
| (Image of you fitting in Lee family as middle child). |
| There are 五 5 五 people in your family. Your father, your mother, your older brother, your younger sister and you. |
| After the teacher’s question, use the sentence pattern to say, |
| “There are 五 5 五 people in my family. My father, my mother, my older brother, my younger sister and me. |
| Ready? |
| 老师:你的家里有几口人？Nǐ de jiālǐ yǒu jǐ kǒu rén? |
| The correct response is: |
| You Lee: 我的家里有五口人. 我的爸爸，我的妈妈, 我的哥哥, 我的妹妹，和我. |
| Listen again and repeat. |
| You Lee: 我的家里有五口人. 我的爸爸，我的妈妈, 我的哥哥, 我的妹妹，和我. |
| All the family member titles we have introduced in this lesson are casual and informal, which means these are used in everyday language. On formal occasions and in literature, we often switch them out with more formal ways to introduce family members. 父亲 fùqin “father” is the formal way of saying 爸爸 bàba “dad”；母亲 mǔqin “mother” is the formal way of saying 妈妈māma “mom”；太太 tàitai “wife” or “mrs.” is the formal way for 老婆 lǎopo and 先生 xiānsheng “husband” or “mr.” is formal for 老公 lǎogōng。姐姐 jiějie “older sister” 哥哥 gēge “older sister” 弟弟 dìdi “yonger brother” 妹妹 mèimei “yonger sister” stay the same. |
| This is the end of this lesson. Question or comment? Let us know. |
| Remember these Can-Do lessons are about learning practical language skills. Once you have mastered the content in this lesson, prove it. |
| Go to ChineseClass101.com and get assessed by a certified teacher. |
| And don’t forget the lesson notes for this lesson while you are there. |
| Good bye. |
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