Learning Chinese

Characters

People & Family

Basic words for people and family members. Kinship terms like "dad" and "mom" are written by doubling the character — only one form is animated below.

CharacterPinyinMeaning
I / me
you
he / him
she / her
bà ba (爸爸)dad
mā ma (妈妈)mom
gē ge (哥哥)older brother
dì di (弟弟)younger brother
jiě jie (姐姐)older sister
mèi mei (妹妹)younger sister

Note: 他 (he) and 她 (she) sound exactly the same — only the written form differs. The radical 女 in 她 marks it as the feminine version.

Quiz

Pick the best answer for each question. You get feedback right away.

  1. How do you say "I / me"?

  2. What distinguishes 他 from 她?

  3. 妹妹 means: