Mom in Chinese — and the rest of the family tree

Mom in Chinese is 妈妈 (māma). Dad is 爸爸 (bàba). Both are reduplicated syllables a toddler can manage, both stay correct for the rest of your life, and neither hides a formal-versus-casual trap.

That's the easy part. The rest of the family tree is where Mandarin stops lining up with English.

Mom in Chinese: 妈妈, 妈, and 母亲

妈妈 (māma) covers almost every situation. The second syllable is neutral — no tone of its own — so it lands as MA-ma, not two even first tones. Calling across a room, people shorten it: 妈！(Mā!)

Two variants are worth recognizing:

• 老妈 (lǎomā) — literally "old mom," affectionate and a little jokey. Works both to address her directly and to talk about her.
• 母亲 (mǔqīn) — the formal written word, seen on Mother's Day (母亲节, mǔqīnjié) and on official forms. Said at the dinner table, it sounds like reading from a certificate.

Dad in Chinese runs the identical pattern: 爸爸 (bàba) in daily speech, 爸 (bà) when calling out, 老爸 (lǎobà) affectionately, 父亲 (fùqīn) in formal writing. If neutral-tone syllables are new, the tone system is worth an hour first — family words are packed with them.

Where Chinese kinship terms stop matching English

Mandarin has no usable single word for "brother," "sister," or "grandmother." The terms split along two axes English ignores completely:

1. Seniority — older or younger than you.
2. Side of the family — your father's line or your mother's.

There is a collective form, 兄弟姐妹 (xiōngdì jiěmèi), for "siblings," and 兄弟 (xiōngdì) for "brothers" as a group — also slang for "buddy." But you can't say "I have a brother" without committing to older or younger. A Chinese speaker asks 哥哥还是弟弟? before they can even name him.

Older brother in Chinese, younger brother, and both sisters

Older brother in Chinese is 哥哥 (gēge); younger brother is 弟弟 (dìdi). Older sister is 姐姐 (jiějie), and younger sister in Chinese is 妹妹 (mèimei). Four words, no overlap, no neutral fallback. Where there are several, they're numbered by age: 大哥 (dàgē) is the eldest brother, 二哥 (èrgē) the next one down, 大姐 (dàjiě) the eldest sister.

Grandma in Chinese depends on whose mother she is

Grandma in Chinese is 奶奶 (nǎinai) if she's your father's mother, and 外婆 (wàipó) or 姥姥 (lǎolao) if she's your mother's. Grandfather divides the same way: 爷爷 (yéye) on the father's side, 外公 (wàigōng) or 姥爷 (lǎoye) on the mother's.

外婆/外公 and 姥姥/姥爷 point at the same two people — the split is regional, not semantic. 外婆 and 外公 are the usual choice across the south and in Taiwan; 姥姥 and 姥爷 are standard in Beijing and much of the north. Both pairs are understood everywhere.

The 外 (wài) in those words means "outer." Under the traditional patrilineal system your mother's parents sat outside your surname line, which is also why a daughter's children are 外孙 (wàisūn) and 外孙女 (wàisūnnǚ) while a son's children are plain 孙子 (sūnzi) and 孙女 (sūnnǚ). Nobody hears an insult in it now, but it explains the vocabulary.

In documents you'll meet 祖父/祖母 (zǔfù/zǔmǔ) for the paternal pair and 外祖父/外祖母 (wàizǔfù/wàizǔmǔ) for the maternal one. Nobody addresses a living grandparent that way.

English	Chinese	Pinyin	Exactly who
Mom	妈妈	māma	—
Dad	爸爸	bàba	—
Older brother	哥哥	gēge	Brother born before you
Younger brother	弟弟	dìdi	Brother born after you
Older sister	姐姐	jiějie	Sister born before you
Younger sister	妹妹	mèimei	Sister born after you
Grandpa, paternal	爷爷	yéye	Father's father
Grandma, paternal	奶奶	nǎinai	Father's mother
Grandpa, maternal	外公 / 姥爷	wàigōng / lǎoye	Mother's father
Grandma, maternal	外婆 / 姥姥	wàipó / lǎolao	Mother's mother

The hard part for a visitor isn't the pronunciation, it's the choice. Chinese Phrasebook, a Chinese phrasebook app for iPhone, keeps the kinship terms grouped together so you pick between 哥哥 and 弟弟 rather than reaching for a general word for "brother" that doesn't exist.

Aunts, uncles, and two different words for cousin

The same two axes run one generation up. Your father's older brother is 伯伯 (bóbo, formally 伯父 bófù); his younger brother is 叔叔 (shūshu); his sister is 姑姑 (gūgu). On your mother's side, her brother is 舅舅 (jiùjiu) and her sister is 姨妈 (yímā) or 阿姨 (āyí). Their spouses take terms of their own — 伯母 (bómǔ), 婶婶 (shěnshen), 姑父 (gūfu), 舅妈 (jiùmā), 姨父 (yífu).

Cousins fall into two families of words. 堂 (táng) marks the children of your father's brothers: same surname, same ancestral hall. 表 (biǎo) covers everyone else — your father's sister's children, and all of your mother's siblings' children. Stack those onto the four sibling words and English "cousin" becomes eight: 堂哥, 堂弟, 堂姐, 堂妹, 表哥, 表弟, 表姐, 表妹. The surname logic behind 堂 is the same logic that governs how Chinese names are built.

Family words are also how you address strangers

This is the practical payoff for a traveler. Mandarin addresses strangers by relationship rather than with an equivalent of "sir" or "ma'am," and it borrows the family words to do it:

• 阿姨 (āyí) — a woman roughly your mother's age: the woman running a noodle stall, a shop owner, your friend's mom.
• 叔叔 (shūshu) — a man roughly your father's age.
• 爷爷 / 奶奶 — someone clearly elderly.
• 大哥 / 大姐 (dàgē / dàjiě) — someone modestly older than you.
• 帅哥 / 美女 (shuàigē / měinǚ) — "handsome guy" and "pretty woman," used casually to get a young stranger's attention in shops and restaurants.
• 师傅 (shīfu) — drivers, cooks, repair people, anyone with a trade.

Calling a shopkeeper 阿姨 is ordinary courtesy, not presumed intimacy. The variable to watch is age: 阿姨 aimed at a woman who thinks of herself as young lands badly, so 姐姐 or 美女 is safer when you're unsure. Avoid 小姐 (xiǎojiě), the textbook word for "Miss" — across much of mainland China it now carries a sex-work connotation, so call 服务员 (fúwùyuán) in a restaurant instead. In Taiwan 小姐 stayed neutral. Pair the right term with the standard polite formulas and you'll sound like you've been paying attention.

FAQ

How do you say mom in Chinese?

妈妈 (māma) — first tone on the first syllable, neutral tone on the second. 妈 (mā) alone works for calling out to her. 母亲 (mǔqīn) is the formal written equivalent.

What is the difference between 奶奶 and 外婆?

Both are grandmothers, on different sides. 奶奶 (nǎinai) is your father's mother; 外婆 (wàipó), or 姥姥 (lǎolao) in northern speech, is your mother's mother. No shared word covers both, so you choose by which parent she belongs to.

Is there a word for "brother" in Chinese?

Not one you can swap in for the English word. 哥哥 (gēge) is specifically an older brother and 弟弟 (dìdi) a younger one. 兄弟 (xiōngdì) exists, but it means "brothers" as a group and in speech usually means "buddy."

Can I really call a stranger 阿姨 or 叔叔?

Yes, it's the normal thing to do. They work as polite address for anyone around your parents' age, the way 大哥 and 大姐 work for someone slightly older. Guessing too old is the only real risk.