Before we look up the family and pronoun words in Chinese, let me explain something to you. The traditional Chinese culture tends to put great emphasis on maintaining respect and positive relationships amongst family members. Much of this behavior relates to Confucian concepts. But nowadays, the younger generation is becoming less family orientated. Nevertheless, children are still expected to obey and defer to their parents and honor their elders in almost all situations.
Family Words in Chinese
| Simplify | China | Traditional | Taiwan | English | Korean | Japanese |
| 家人 | jiārén | 家人 | jiārén | Family member | 가족 | 家族 |
| 爸爸 | bàba | 爸爸 | bàba | Father | 아버지 | 父 |
| 妈妈 | māma | 媽媽 | māma | Mother | 어머니 | 母 |
| 姐姐 | jiějie | 姊姊 | jiějie | Elder sister | 누나, 언니 | 姉 |
| 哥哥 | gēge | 哥哥 | gēge | Elder Brother | 형, 오빠 | 兄 |
| 妹妹 | mèimei | 妹妹 | mèimei | Younger sister | 여동생 | 妹 |
| 弟弟 | dìdi | 弟弟 | dìdi | Younger brother | 남동생 | 弟 |
| 女儿 | nǚér | 女兒 | nǚér | Daughter | 딸 | 娘 |
| 儿子 | érzi | 兒子 | érzi | Son | 아들 | 息子 |
| 先生 | xiānsheng | 先生 | xiānshēng | Husband, Mr. | 남편 | 夫 |
| 太太 | tàitai | 太太 | tàitai | Wife, Mrs | 아내 | 妻 |
| 孩子 | háizi | 孩子 | háizi | Child | 아이 | 子供 |
Examples
我太太非常愛吃臭豆腐
我太太非常爱吃臭豆腐
Wǒ tàitai fēicháng ài chī chòudòufǔ.
My wife loves stinky tofu.
我沒有孩子，但是我有一隻狗
我没有孩子，但是我有一只狗
Wǒ méiyǒu háizi，dànshì wǒ yǒu yìzhī gǒu.
I don’t have children, but I have a dog.
Pronoun Words in Chinese
| Simplify | China | Traditional | Taiwan | English | Korean | Japanese |
| 我 | wǒ | 我 | wǒ | I, me | 저 | 私 |
| 我们 | wǒmen | 我們 | wǒmen | We, us | 저희 | 私達 |
| 你/妳 | nǐ | 你/妳 | nǐ | You | 너 | 貴方/貴女 |
| 你们/妳们 | nǐmen | 你們/妳們 | nǐmen | You (plural) | 너희 | 君たち |
| 您 | nín | 您 | nín | You (honorific) | 당신 | 貴様 |
| 他/她 | tā | 他/她 | tā | He/ She, him/ her | 그 | 彼/彼女 |
| 他们/她们 | tāmen | 他們/她們 | tāmen | They, them | 그들 | 彼等 |
Examples
他 tā
It means human, so actually, it can represent both he and she, but not it.
你/妳nǐ
The radical of 你 is “human” not male. So in ancient Chinese, there was no distinction between male and female for a pronoun. However, we cannot deny that ancient China is a male-dominated society. Most women didn’t have a chance to go to school or learn characters, so radical “human” basically represents the male. Around 40 years ago, the feminist movement burst. Women want to have their pronouns, so people took an old word 嬭 (it is a pronoun for old women and showed respect) and simplify it to 妳. Since that, Chinese pronouns have gender awareness.
你還記得我嗎？
你还记得我吗？
Nǐ hái jìdé wǒ ma？
Do you still remember me？
我們已經分手了
我们已经分手了
Wǒmen yǐjīng fēnshǒu le.
We’ve broken up.
A1 Family and Pronoun
