LessonsHSK 1 · Lesson 3
HSK 1 · Lesson 3 of 15
My family
Talking about your family: who is in it, how many of you there are, and whose is whose. 20 words and 3 grammar points; tap the characters to hear them.
🔊 The sound in these lessons comes from your device’s own Mandarin voice, so it differs from device to device. Recorded audio will follow.
📚 Words
- Hán-Việt gia Home; a family, a household.
- Hán-Việt gia nhân The people in one's family; one's relatives at home.
- Hán-Việt ba ba Dad, father: what children of any age call their father, and the everyday word for anyone's father.
- Hán-Việt ma ma Mum, mother: what children of any age call their mother, and the everyday word for anyone's mother.
- Hán-Việt ca ca An older brother, a brother born before you.
- Hán-Việt thư thư An older sister, a sister born before you.
- Hán-Việt đệ đệ A younger brother, a brother born after you.
- Hán-Việt muội muội A younger sister, a sister born after you.
- Hán-Việt nhi tử A son: someone's male child.
- Hán-Việt nữ nhi A daughter: someone's female child.
- Hán-Việt hài tử A child, or children: a young person, or someone's son or daughter at any age.
- Hán-Việt tiểu bằng hữu A young child, in the kindly way adults speak to or about children.
- Hán-Việt bằng hữu A friend, someone you know well and like.
- Hán-Việt nam bằng hữu A boyfriend: the man or boy someone is going out with.
- Hán-Việt nữ bằng hữu A girlfriend: the woman or girl someone is going out with.
- Hán-Việt hữu To have, to own; also 'there is, there are'.
- Hán-Việt một hữu Not to have; there is not, there are no.
- Hán-Việt đích A particle showing that what stands before it owns or describes the noun that comes next.
- Hán-Việt hoà And, joining two nouns or pronouns; also 'with'.
- Hán-Việt khẩu A measure word for the people in a family, and the word for 'mouth'.
🧩 Grammar
有 (to have) and 没有
有 means "to have" and also "there is". Its negative is always 没有 — never 不有: 我有哥哥 "I have an older brother", 我没有妹妹 "I don't have a younger sister". To ask, add 吗, or say 有没有: 你有没有孩子？ "Do you have children?"
- I have two older sisters.
- He doesn't have a girlfriend.
- How many people are there in your family?
的: whose is it?
的 joins an owner to the thing owned, like English 's: 我的书 "my book", 老师的手机 "the teacher's phone". With family members and close relations it is usually left out: 我妈妈 "my mum", 我朋友 "my friend".
- This is my book.
- My dad is a doctor.
和: and (between nouns)
和 joins nouns and pronouns: 我和你 "you and me", 爸爸和妈妈 "Dad and Mum". It does not join two sentences — for "and then" Chinese simply puts the two sentences side by side.
- My younger sister and I are both students.
🎯 Practice
The drill below uses only this lesson’s words. Switch the kind of drill:
Context clues Match the meaning Listen & type Fill the blank Put in order Hán-Việt bridge
Open the full practice page → · All 300 HSK 1 words