Lesson 066 Talking about Family

YJ: Time again for Chinese Studio on China Radio International. I’m YJ.
Cam: Da4jia1 hao3. Hello everyone. Wo3 Shi4 Cam. In last lesson, we learned how to say there is something in some place with a verb ‘有’(you3) – y-ou, third tone, 有(you3).
YJ: Today we’ll show you how to use this sentence pattern to talk about family. First, Key Words of the Day.

Key Words of the Day
你家里有几口人？How many people are there in your family? 家，family. 爸爸 papa. 妈妈，mum。哥哥, older brother. 姐姐, older sister. 妹妹,  younger sister.弟弟 means younger brother. 照片, photograph. All in today’s Chinese Studio.

YJ: 你家里有几口人 (Ni3 jia1 li3 you3 ji3 kou3 ren2)？How many people are there in your family? 人 means people. 几口人(ji3 kou3 ren2), how many people. 口, third tone, here is a measure word. And 家, j-i-a, first tone, means family.
Cam: 几口人(ji3 kou3 ren2) means how many people. 家 (jia1) means family.
YJ: Right. And 你家里means ‘in your family’.你家里有几口人 (Ni3 jia1 li3 you3 ji3 kou3 ren2)？How many people are there in your family?  
Cam: Ni3 jia1 li3 you3 ji3 kou3 ren2？How many people are there in your family?  
YJ: Normally there are three people in one family of young people in my age. 有三口人 (you3 san1 kou3 ren2).
Cam: You3 san1 kou3 ren2. There are three people.
YJ: Take myself as an example. In my family, there are 爸爸(ba4 ba), 妈妈(ma1 ma) and me。
Cam: I guess 爸爸(ba4 ba) means father while 妈妈 (ma1 ma) means mum? Sound very close to.
YJ: You’re right. father in Chinese is爸爸. 爸, b-a, fourth tone. But the second 爸 would turn into the light tone in the phrase.
Cam:  爸爸 (ba4 ba).
YJ: and 妈妈 (ma1 ma).
Cam：妈妈 (ma1 ma).

Conversation1: 

Cam: Oh, compared with you young people in China, I have a much bigger family. There are five people in my family. 我家里有五口人 (Wo3 jia1 li3 you3 wu5 kou3 ren2)。Am I right with the Chinese?
YJ: Sure. So who are they？
Cam: In addition to my parents, I also have an older brother and a younger brother. YJ, how do you say an older brother and a younger brother?
YJ: Older brother is 哥哥 (ge1 ge). And younger brother - 弟弟 (di4 di).
Cam: 哥哥 (ge1 ge) means older brother.弟弟 (di4 di) means younger brother. How about older sister and younger sister?
YJ: It’s 姐姐( jie3 jie) 和妹妹(mei4 mei). 和, and. 姐姐( jie3 jie) – older sister. 妹妹(mei4 mei) – younger sister.

Conversation2:

YJ: Now Cam, can you tell me the Chinese for ‘What’s in the box’? Box is 盒子(he2 zi). 盒, second tone. 子, light tone.
Cam: It would be盒子里有什么 (He2zi li3 you3 shen2me)？What’s in the box? Right?
YJ: Bingo. And what does ‘有我们全家的照片(You3 wo3men quan2jia1 de zhao4 pian4)’ mean? 全家 means whole family. 照片 means photograph。照, zh-ao, fourth tone. 照. 片, pi-an, fourth tone again. 片.
Cam: “Quan2jia1 de zhao4 pian4” means ‘photographs of my whole family’. Now I get the meaning of the sentence. It’s “There are photographs of my whole family”. You3 wo3men quan2jia1 de zhao4 pian4.