Identity and Family in Chinese

T.M.I

Before we look up identity and family words in Chinese, I want to tell you a not important fact. There are three kinds of fans in China. The first one is 團粉/团粉 tuánfěn. It means you like the whole idol group. The second one is 唯粉wéifěn. It means you like only one specific person in that idol group. The third one is the worst one, which is 黑粉hēifěn. 黑hēi is a transliterated word of the English word “hate.” So 黑粉hēifěn means anti-fan. They sometimes do a lot of crazy things.

Identity Words in Chineses

Examples

大哥dàgē and 大姐dàjiě

Both of them have 3 different meanings.
1. The eldest brother or sister in your family.
2. Polite form of address for a man or a woman about your own age.
3. Gang leader

大哥，你東西掉了!
大哥，你东西掉了!
Dàgē，nǐ dōngxi diào le!
Hey bro, you dropped something!

大姐說明天以前你要把錢交出來
大姐说明天以前你要把钱交出来
Dàjiě shuō míngtiān yǐqián nǐ yào bǎ qián jiāo chūlái.
Boss said you have to hand over the money by tomorrow.

歌迷gēmí is ok to use, but actually people tend to use 粉絲/粉丝fěnsī or name+ 粉/粉fěn more in nowadays.

我是Tiffany老師的粉絲！
我是Tiffany老师的粉丝！
Wǒ shì Tiffany lǎoshī de fěnsī！
I am the fan of teacher Tiffany！😂

Family Words in Chineses

Examples

大爺dàyé and 叔叔shúshu

Both of them are translated to the uncle in English. But 大爺dàyé (another common way is 伯伯bóbo) usually refers to the person who is a little older than your father; while 叔叔shúshu is for the person who is a little younger than your father.

街口賣花的叔叔以前真是個大帥哥
街口卖花的叔叔以前真是个大帅哥
Jiē kǒu mài huā de shūshu yǐqián zhēnshi ge dà shuàigē.
The man selling flowers at the street corner used to be a really handsome guy.

孫子sūnzi

The traditional Chinese culture used to value males and attach less importance to females, so 孫子sūnzi not only refers to grandson but also means grandchildren.

我爺爺一共有23個孫子，我是第7個
我爷爷一共有23个孙子，我是第7个
Wǒ yéye yígòng yǒu 23 ge sūnzi, wǒ shì dì 7 ge.
My grandfather has a total of 23 grandchildren, I am the seventh.