{"id":13577,"date":"2019-11-19T01:29:50","date_gmt":"2019-11-19T01:29:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chinesemoment.com\/chinese-culture\/learn-chinese-l4-how-many-people-are-there-in-your-family\/"},"modified":"2019-11-19T01:29:50","modified_gmt":"2019-11-19T01:29:50","slug":"learn-chinese-l4-how-many-people-are-there-in-your-family","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinesemoment.com\/my\/learn-chinese-l4-how-many-people-are-there-in-your-family\/","title":{"rendered":"Learn Chinese L4: How many people are there in your family?"},"content":{"rendered":"
Dachuan, Wang Jun and Li Mei are having a picnic by the lake. Seeing many happy families, Wang Jun asks a<\/em>bout Dachuan’s familiy members.<\/p>\n

Dialogue One<\/p>\n

dà chu\u0101n\u3000n\u01d0\u3000ji\u0101\u3000y\u01d2u\u3000shén\u3000me\u3000rén
\u5927\u3000\u5ddd\uff0c\u3000\u4f60\u3000\u5bb6\u3000\u6709\u3000\u3000\u4ec0\u3000 \u4e48\u3000 \u4eba\uff1f
How many people are there in your family, Dachuan?
bà\u3000b\u0251\u3000m\u0101\u3000m\u0251\u3000mèi mei\u3000hé\u3000w\u01d2
\u7238\u3000\u7238\u3001 \u5988\u3000 \u5988\u3001 \u59b9\u3000\u59b9\u3000 \u548c\u3000 \u6211\uff0c
hái\u3000y\u01d2u\u3000yì\u3000zh\u012b\u3000xi\u01ceo \u0261\u01d2u\u3000t\u0101\u3000jiào\u3000\u0261\u0101o\u3000xìn\u0261
\u8fd8\u3000 \u6709\u3000 \u4e00\u3000\u53ea\u3000 \u5c0f\u3000\u72d7\uff0c \u5b83\u3000\u53eb\u3000“ \u9ad8\u3000 \u5174”\u3002
My father, mother, younger sister and me. There is also a dog named "Gaoxing".
Dialogue Two<\/p>\n

l\u01d0\u3000méi\u3000n\u01d0\u3000ji\u0101\u3000y\u01d2u\u3000j\u01d0\u3000k\u01d2u\u3000rén
\u674e\u3000\u6885\uff0c\u4f60\u3000\u5bb6\u3000\u6709\u3000\u51e0\u3000\u53e3\u3000 \u4eba\uff1f
How many people are there in your family, Li Mei?
w\u01d2\u3000ji\u0101\u3000w\u01d4\u3000k\u01d2u\u3000rén\u3000bà\u3000b\u0251\u3000m\u0101\u3000m\u0251\u3000ji\u011b\u3000jie\u3000\u0261\u0113\u3000\u0261e\u3000hé\u3000w\u01d2
\u6211\u3000\u5bb6\u3000 \u4e94\u3000 \u53e3\u3000 \u4eba\uff0c \u7238\u3000\u7238\u3001 \u5988\u3000 \u5988\u3001 \u59d0\u3000\u59d0\u3001 \u54e5\u3000\u54e5\u3000\u548c\u3000\u6211\u3002
n\u01d0\u3000ji\u0101\u3000ne
\u4f60\u3000\u5bb6\u3000\u5462\uff1f
Five. My father, mother, elder sister, elder brother and me. How a<\/em>bout you?
bà\u3000b\u0251\u3000m\u0101\u3000m\u0251\u3000dì\u3000di\u3000hé\u3000w\u01d2
\u7238\u3000\u7238\u3001 \u5988\u3000\u5988\u3001 \u5f1f\u3000\u5f1f\u3000\u548c\u3000\u6211\u3002
My father, mother, younger brother and me.
Explanation of difficult points<\/p>\n

1. Listing in Chinese (and the use of "\u548c")
1)"\u3001"("\u987f\u53f7" dùn hào, meaning "pause symbol"—so you should pause in speech) is used to list more than two things. "\u3001" needs not to be used between the last two things. For instance, you can say "\u7238\u7238\u3001\u5988\u5988\u3001\u59d0\u59d0\u3001\u54e5\u54e5\u548c\u6211" (bà ba, m\u0101 ma, ji\u011b jie, g\u0113 ge hé w\u01d2; father, mother, sister, brother and me). In oral Chinese sometimes "\u548c"(hé) is also omitted.
2) "\u548c" is used when listing two things. "\u3001" is not used in such case.<\/p>\n

2. Order matters in Chinese
Note that order matters in Chinese. Pay special attention to listing people from oldest to youngest because it implies im<\/em>portance; the position of "\u6211"(w\u01d2) can be either at the end or according to age. If you want to list you and some other people (and the age or im<\/em>portance issue does not apply), you would say "\u6211\u548c……"(w\u01d2 hé, me and …).<\/p>\n

3. Family order matters
In Chinese, out of habit, you say "\u7238\u7238\u5988\u5988"(bà ba m\u0101 ma) as opposed to "mom and dad". Similar examples are "\u7237\u7237\u5976\u5976"(yé ye n\u01cei nai) and "\u54e5\u54e5\u59d0\u59d0"(g\u0113 ge ji\u011b jie).
<\/div>\n