LESSON 2 Family

第二课 家庭
Dì èr kè Jiātíng

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
In this lesson, you will learn to use Chinese to
• Employ basic kinship terms;
• Describe a family photo;
• Ask about someone’s profession;
• Say some common professions.

RELATE AND GET READY

In your own culture/community—
1. What is the typical family structure?
2. Does an adult consider his/her parents’ house his/her home?
3. Do adults live with their parents?
4. Do people mention their father or mother first when talking about
family members?
5. Is it culturally appropriate to ask about people’s professions upon first
meeting them?

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Dialogue I: Looking at a Family Photo

LANGUAGE NOTES
(Wang Peng is in Gao Wenzhong’s room and points to a
picture on the wall.) 这 can also
In colloquial Chinese,
be pronounced as zhèi and 那 as
高文中，那是你的1照片 nèi if followed by a measure word

吗？ or a numeral and a measure word.

(They both walk toward the picture and then stand in

front of it.)

是。这是我爸爸，这是我
妈妈。
这 个2女孩子是谁3?
她是我姐姐。
这个男孩子是你弟弟吗？

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不是，他是我大哥的儿子 。 “Son” in Chinese is 儿子 (érzi),

and 儿子 (érzi, son) cannot be
你大哥有 女儿吗？ 4 replaced by 男孩子
(nán háizi, boy). “Daughter” is
他没有女儿。 女儿 (nǚ’ér), and 女儿
(nǚ’ér) cannot be interchanged
(Wang Peng is in Gao Wenzhong’s room and points to a picture
on the wall.)
with 女孩子(nǚ háizi, girl).
Gāo Wénzhōng, nà shì nǐ de1 zhàopiàn ma?

(They both walk toward the picture and then stand in front of it.)

Shì. Zhè shì wǒ bàba, zhè shì wǒ māma.

Zhè ge2 nǚ háizi shì shéi3?

Tā shì wǒ jiějie.

Zhè ge nán háizi shì nǐ dìdi ma?

Bú shì, tā shì wǒ dàgē de érzi .

Nǐ dàgē yǒu4 nǚ’ér ma?

Tā méiyǒu nǚ’ér.

VOCABULARY

1. 那 nà pr that

2. 的 de p (a possessive or descriptive particle)

[See Grammar 1.]

3. 照片 zhàopiàn n picture; photo

4. 这 zhè pr this

5. 爸爸 bàba n father, dad

6. 妈妈 māma n mother, mom

7. 个 gè/ge m (measure word for many common

everyday objects) [See Grammar 2.]

8. 女 nǚ adj female

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VOCABULARY

9. 孩子 háizi n child

10. 谁 shéi qpr who [See Grammar 3.]

11. 她 tā pr she; her

12. 姐姐 jiějie n older sister

13. 男 nán adj male

14. 弟弟 dìdi n younger brother

15. 他 tā pr he; him

16. 大哥 dàgē n eldest brother

17. 儿子 érzi n son

18. 有 yǒu v to have; to exist [See Grammar 4.]

19. 女儿 nǚ’ér n daughter

20. 没 méi adv not

Proper Noun

21. 高文中 Gāo Wénzhōng (a personal name)

高 gāo (a surname) tall; high

The picture on the wall in Gao Wenzhong’s room.

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Grammar

1. The Particle 的 (de) (I)

To indicate a possessive relationship, the particle 的 appears between the “possessor”

and the “possessed.” To that extent, it is equivalent to the “’s” structure in English. For

example: 老师的名字(lǎoshī de míngzi) = teacher’s name. The particle 的 (de)

is often omitted in colloquial speech after a personal pronoun and before a kinship term.

“王朋的妈妈”(Wáng Péng de māma, Wang Peng’s mother)

Therefore, we say

but“我妈妈”(wǒ māma, my mother). See also Grammar 3 in Lesson 3.

2. Measure Words (I)

In Chinese a numeral is usually not followed immediately by a noun. Rather, a measure

word is inserted between the number and the noun, as in (1), (2), and (3) below. Similarly, a
measure word is often inserted between a demonstrative pronoun and a noun, as in (4) and
(5) below. There are over one hundred measure words in Chinese, but you may hear only
two or three dozen in everyday speech. Many nouns are associated with special measure
words, which often bear a relationship to the meaning of the given noun.

个 (gè /ge) is the single most common measure word in Chinese. It is also sometimes
used as a substitute for other measure words.

一个人
yí ge rén

(a person)

一个学生
yí ge xuésheng

(a student)

一个老师
yí ge lǎoshī

(a teacher)

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这个孩子
zhè ge háizi

(this child)

那个男学生
nà ge nán xuésheng

(that male student)

3. Question Pronouns

谁 (shéi, who), 什么 (shénme, what), 哪 (nǎ/něi, which) [See

Question pronouns include

Lesson 6], 哪儿 (nǎr, where) [See Lesson 5], 几 (jǐ, how many), etc. In a question with a
question pronoun, the word order is exactly the same as that in a declarative sentence. Therefore,
when learning to form a question with a question pronoun, we can start with a declarative sentence
and then replace the part in question with the appropriate question pronoun, e.g.:

那个女孩子是李友。
Nà ge nǚ háizi shì Lǐ Yǒu.

(That girl is Li You.)

From (1), one can replace 那个女孩子 (Nà ge nǚ háizi) with 谁 (shéi) to form a question if
he or she wishes to find out who Li You is:

(1a) 谁是李友？
Shéi shì Lǐ Yǒu?

(Who is Li You?)

谁 (shéi) functions as the subject of the sentence and occupies the same position as
Here

那个女孩子 (Nà ge nǚ háizi) in the corresponding statement.

One can also replace 李友 (Lǐ Yǒu) in (1) with 谁 (shéi) to form a question if he or she wishes to
find out who that girl is:

(1b) 那个女孩子是谁？
Nà ge nǚ háizi shì shéi?

(Who is that girl?)

谁 (shéi) functions as the object of the sentence and occupies the same position as 李友 (Lǐ Yǒu).
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MORE EXAMPLES:

A: 谁是老师？
Shéi shì lǎoshī?

(Who is a teacher?)

B: 李先生是老师。
Lǐ xiānsheng shì lǎoshī.

(Mr. Li is a teacher.)

A: 那个女孩子姓什么？
Nà ge nǚ háizi xìng shénme?

(What’s that girl’s family name?)

B: 那个女孩子姓王。
Nà ge nǚ háizi xìng Wáng.

(That girl’s family name is Wang.)

A: 谁有姐姐？
Shéi yǒu jiějie?

(Who has older sisters?)

B: 高文中有姐姐。
Gāo Wénzhōng yǒu jiějie.

(Gao Wenzhong has an older sister.)

4. 有 (yǒu) in the Sense of “to Have” or “to Possess”

有 (yǒu) is always negated with 没 (méi) instead of 不 (bù).
EXAMPLES:

A: 王先生有弟弟吗？
Wáng xiānsheng yǒu dìdi ma?

(Does Mr. Wang have a younger brother?)

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B: 王先生没有弟弟。
Wáng xiānsheng méiyǒu dìdi.

(Mr. Wang doesn’t have any younger brothers.)

A: 我有三个姐姐，你呢？
Wǒ yǒu sān ge jiějie, nǐ ne?

(I have three older sisters. How about you?)

B: 我没有姐姐。
Wǒ méiyǒu jiějie.

(I don’t have any older sisters.)

Language Practice

A. 谁 (shéi, who)

Look at the pictures, and work with a partner to find out who they are.

EXAMPLE:

A: 这个人/男孩子是谁？ A: Zhè ge rén/nán háizi shì shéi?

B: 这个人/男孩子是王朋。B: Zhè ge rén/nán háizi shì Wáng Péng.

1. 2.

B. 有/没有 (yǒu/méiyǒu, have/do not have)

Ask and answer the following questions based on the text of Lesson 2 and your
own situation.

EXAMPLE:

高大哥 ◆ 女儿 Gāo dàgē ◆ nǚ’ér

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A: 高大哥有女儿吗？ A: Gāo dàgē yǒu nǚ’ér ma?

B: 没有，他没有女儿。 B: Méiyǒu, tā méiyǒu nǚ’ér.

1. 高文中 ◆ 姐姐 1. Gāo Wénzhōng ◆ jiějie

2. 高大哥 ◆ 儿子 2. Gāo dàgē ◆ érzi

3. 你 ◆ 姐姐 4. Nǐ ◆ jiějie

4. 你 ◆ 弟弟 5. Nǐ ◆ dìdi

5. 你的老师 ◆ 女儿 6. Nǐ de lǎoshī ◆ nǚ’ér

C. “Who is this?”

Exchange family pictures and ask about the other person’s family
members.

A: 这是谁？ A: Zhè shì shéi?

B: 这是我 。 B: Zhè shì wǒ .

D. Family Picture

Show your family picture to the class and describe the people in the
picture.

这是我爸爸， Zhè shì wǒ bàba,

这是我妈妈，… zhè shì wǒ māma, …

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Dialogue II: Asking about Someone's Family

白英爱，你家 有5几
LANGUAGE NOTES
In Chinese, 家 (jiā) can refer to one’s family
口 人？ as well as one’s home. So one can point to
his or her family picture and say “我
我家有六口人。我 家有四口人”(Wǒ jiā yǒu sì kǒu
爸爸、我妈妈、一 rén; There are four people in my family), and

one can also point to his or her house and

个哥哥、两6个妹妹 say “这是我家”(Zhè shì wǒ jiā;
和 我 。李友，你家 This is my home).

有几口人？ 口 (kǒu) is the idiomatic measure word

in northern China for the number of family

我家有五口人。爸爸、 members. In the south, people say 个 (gè

/ge) instead.
妈妈、大姐、二姐和
我。你爸爸妈妈做什么 See next page.

工作？

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我爸爸是律师，妈妈是 The numeral 一 (yī, one) is pronounced

英文老师，哥哥、妹妹 in the first tone (yī) when it stands alone or
comes at the end of a phrase or sentence.
都7是大学生。 Otherwise, its pronunciation changes

我妈妈也是老师，我爸
according to the following rules:
(a) Before a fourth-tone syllable, it becomes

爸是医生。 second tone: 一个 (yí gè).

(b) Before a first-, second- or third-tone
syllable, it is pronounced in the fourth tone,
Bài Yīng’ài, nǐ jiā yǒu5 jǐ kǒu rén? e.g.,一张 (yì zhāng, a sheet), 一盘 (yì
pán, one plate), 一本 (yì běn, one volume).
Wǒ jiā yǒu liù kǒu rén. Wǒ bàba, wǒ māma, yí ge

gēge, liǎng6 ge mèimei hé wǒ . Lǐ Yǒu, nǐ jiā Unlike and, 和 (hé) cannot link two clauses
or two sentences: 我爸爸是老
yǒu jǐ kǒu rén?
师，*和我妈妈是医生 (Wǒ
Wǒ jiā yǒu wǔ kǒu rén: bàba, māma, dàjiě, èrjiě hé bàba shì lǎoshī, *hé wǒ māma shì yīsheng).
wǒ. Nǐ bàba māma zuò shénme gōngzuò?
The pause mark, or series comma, 、 is
Wǒ bàba shì lǜshī, māma shì Yīngwén lǎoshī, gēge, often used to link two, three or even more

mèimei dōu7 shì dàxuéshēng.

爸爸、
parallel words or phrases, e.g.,
妈妈、两个妹妹和我 (bàba,
Wǒ māma yě shì lǎoshī, wǒ bàba shì yīshēng.
māma, liǎng ge mèimei hé wǒ; dad, mom,

two younger sisters and I). For further

discussion of this punctuation mark, see
Language Note 1 for Dialogue I in Lesson 4.

VOCABULARY

1. 家 jiā n family; home

2. 几 jǐ nu how many; some; a few

3. 口 kǒu m (measure word for number of family

members)

4. 哥哥 gēge n older brother

5. 两 liǎng nu two; a couple of [See Grammar 6.]

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VOCABULARY

6. 妹妹 mèimei n younger sister

7. 和 hé conj and

8. 大姐 dàjiě n eldest sister

9. 二姐 èrjiě n second oldest sister

10. 做 zuò v to do

11. 工作 gōngzuò n/v job; to work

12. 律师 lǜshī n lawyer

13. 英文 Yīngwén n English (language)

14. 都 dōu adv both; all [See Grammar 7.]

15. 大学生 dàxuéshēng n college student

大学 dàxué n university; college

16. 医生 yīshēng n doctor; physician

Proper Noun

17. 白英爱 Bái Yīng’ài (a personal name)

Who do you think works in this office?

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Grammar

5. 有 (yǒu) in the Sense of “to Exist”

EXAMPLES:

我家有五个人。
Wǒ jiā yǒu wǔ ge rén.

(There are five people in my family.)

小高家有两个大学生。
Xiǎo Gāo jiā yǒu liǎng ge dàxuéshēng.

(There are two college students in Little Gao’s family.)

6. The Usage of 二 (èr) and 两 (liǎng)

二 (èr) and 两 (liǎng) both mean “two,” but they differ in usage. 两 (liǎng) is used in front of
common measure words to express a quantity, e.g., 两个人 (liǎng ge rén, two persons). In

counting, one uses 二 (èr): “一， 二， 三， 四…” (yī, èr, sān, sì; one, two,

three, four...). In compound numerals, 二 (èr) is always used for the 2 on the last two digits, e.g.,

二十二 (èrshí’èr, 22); 一百二十五 (yìbǎi èrshí’wǔ, 125). But 二百二十二 (èrbǎi
èrshí’èr, 222) can also be said as 两百二十二 (liǎngbǎi èrshí’èr, 222).

7. The Adverb 都 (dōu, both; all)

The word 都 (dōu) indicates inclusiveness. As it always occurs in front of a verb, it is classified as
an adverb. However, because it refers to something that has been mentioned earlier in the sentence,
or in a preceding sentence, it also has a pronoun-like flavor and it must be used at the end of an
enumeration.

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EXAMPLES:

王朋、李友和高文中都是学生。
Wáng Péng, Lǐ Yǒu hé Gāo Wénzhōng dōu shì xuésheng.

(Wang Peng, Li You, and Gao Wenzhong are all students.)

(lit. Wang Peng, Li You, and Gao Wenzhong all are students.)

[都 (dōu) refers back to Wang Peng, Li You and Gao Wenzhong and therefore appears after they
are mentioned.]

王朋和李友都不是律师。
Wáng Péng hé Lǐ Yǒu dōu bú shì lǜshī.

(Neither Wang Peng nor Li You is a lawyer.)

王朋和白英爱都有妹妹。
Wáng Péng hé Bái Yīng’ài dōu yǒu mèimei.

(Both Wang Peng and Bai Ying’ai have younger sisters.)

(lit. Wang Peng and Bai Ying’ai both have younger sisters.)

高文中和李友都没有弟弟。
Gāo Wénzhōng hé Lǐ Yǒu dōu méi yǒu dìdi.

(Neither Gao Wenzhong nor Li You has any younger brothers.)

没 (méi) is always used to negate 有 (yǒu). However, to say “not all of ... have,” we say 不都
有 (bù dōu yǒu) rather than *没都有 (méi dōu yǒu). Whether the negative precedes or follows
the word 都 (dōu) makes the difference between partial negation and complete negation.

COMPARE:

a. 他们不都是中国人。 (他们: tāmen, they)

(Tāmen bù dōu shì Zhōngguó rén.) (Not all of them are Chinese.)

b. 他们都不是中国人。
(Tāmen dōu bú shì Zhōngguó rén.) (None of them are Chinese.)

c. 他们不都有弟弟。
(Tāmen bù dōu yǒu dìdi.) (Not all of them have younger brothers.)

d. 他们都没有弟弟。
(Tāmen dōu méi yǒu dìdi.) (None of them have any younger brothers.)

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Language Practice

E. 有(yǒu, there is/there are)

Take out your family pictures, ask three of your classmates how many family
members they have, and report back to the class.

EXAMPLE: A: 请问，你家有几口人？ A: Qǐng wèn, nǐ jiā yǒu jǐ kǒu rén?

B: 我家有四口人。 B: Wǒ jiā yǒu sì kǒu rén.

Classmate 1 (Chris)

Classmate 2 (Anne)

Classmate 3 (Joe)

F. Question Pronouns 谁 (shéi, who), 几 (jǐ, how many),

什么 (shénme, what)
Based on the texts of Lessons 1 and 2, formulate a question or a response for
each of the sentences below using the appropriate question pronoun.

EXAMPLE: A: 这是谁？ A: Zhè shì shéi?

B: 这是王朋。 B: Zhè shì Wáng Péng.

1. A: 有儿子？ 1. A: yǒu érzi?

B: 高文中的大哥有儿子。 B: Gāo Wénzhōng de dàgē yǒu érzi.

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2. A: 李友家有 口人? 2. A: Lǐ Yǒu jiā yǒu kǒu rén?

B: 李友家有五口人。 B: Lǐ Yǒu jiā yǒu wǔ kǒu rén.

3. A: 白英爱有 个妹妹? 3. A: Bái Yīng’ài yǒu ge mèimei?

B: 白英爱有两个妹妹。 B: Bái Yīng’ài yǒu liǎng ge mèimei.

4. A: 李友的爸爸做 4. A: Lǐ Yǒu de bàba zuò

工作? gōngzuò?

B: 李友的爸爸是医生。 B: Lǐ Yǒu de bàba shì yīshēng.

5. A: 白英爱的妈妈做 5. A: Bái Yīng’ài de māma zuò

工作? gōngzuò?

B: 白英爱的妈妈是 B: Bái Yīng’ài de māma shì

英文老师。 Yīngwén lǎoshī.

G. Find out Who or What They Are

It’s almost Halloween. Your friends put on costumes and props, and you want to
know who or what they are. Therefore, you ask them the following questions to
find out:

你是 人吗？ or Nǐ shì rén ma?

你做什么工作？ Nǐ zuò shénme gōngzuò?

Here are their costumes and props:

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

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H. 都 (dōu, both; all)

Based on the information given, rephrase the sentences with 都.

EXAMPLE: 王朋是学生， Wáng Péng shì xuésheng,

李友也是学生。 Lǐ Yǒu yě shì xuésheng.

→ 王朋和李友 → Wáng Péng hé Lǐ Yǒu

都是学生。 dōu shì xuésheng.

1. 白英爱的妈妈是老师， 1. Bái Yīng’ài de māma shì lǎoshī,

李友的妈妈也是老师。 Lǐ Yǒu de māma yě shì lǎoshī.

→
2. 李友有姐姐， 2. Lǐ Yǒu yǒu jiějie,

高文中也有姐姐。 Gāo Wénzhōng yě yǒu jiějie.

→
3. 王朋不是纽约人， 3. Wáng Péng bú shì Niǔyuē rén,

高文中也不是纽约人。 Gāo Wénzhōng yě bú shì Niǔyuē rén.

→
4. 王朋没有哥哥， 4. Wáng Péng méiyǒu gēge,

李友也没有哥哥。 Lǐ Yǒu yě méiyǒu gēge.

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I. 都(dōu, all; both) with 不(bù, not) or 没有 (méiyǒu, not have)

The following chart is about Wang Peng, Li You, Gao Wenzhong, and Bai Ying’ai.
It indicates what they do or do not do, and what they have and don’t have. Based
on the information given, make statements about them using 都(dōu, all; both)
with不(bù, not) or 没有(méiyǒu, not have) appropriately. Note, “ ”
means “yes”, and “ ” means “no”. (他们: tāmen, they)

学生 律师 弟弟 照片 姐姐
xuésheng lǜshī dìdi zhàopiàn jiějie

J. Pair activity

Ask about your partner’s family:

A: 你家有几口人？ A: Nǐ jiā yǒu jǐ kǒu rén?

B: 我家有 口人。 B: Wǒ jiā yǒu kǒu rén.

A: 你爸爸/妈妈/哥哥/姐姐/ A: Nǐ bàba/māma/gēge/jiějie/

弟弟/妹妹做什么工作？ dìdi/mèimei zuò shénme gōngzuò?

B: …。 B: ….

Tiêng Trung Mr.LeeTiêng Trung

Mr.Lee

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 Lesson 2 • Family 59

Switch roles.

Report your findings to the class:

Jennifer家有 口人。 Jennifer jiā yǒu kǒu rén.

她爸爸/妈妈/哥哥/ Tā bàba/māma/gēge/

姐姐/弟弟/妹妹是… jiějie/dìdi/mèimei shì…

HOW ABOUT YOU?

What does everyone in your family do?

e.g. 我爸爸是老师。Wǒ bàba shì lǎoshī.

What do your family members do? Are they:

1. 商人 shāngrén merchant; businessperson

2. 军人 jūnrén soldier; military officer

3. 教授 jiàoshòu professor

4. 经理 jīnglǐ manager

5. 工人 gōngrén worker

6. 工程师 gōngchéngshī engineer

7. 农民 nóngmín farmer; peasant

8. 护士 hùshi nurse

If the professions of your family members are not listed above, please ask your teacher
and make a note here:

我爸爸/妈妈/哥哥/姐姐/弟弟/妹妹是 。
Wǒ bàba/māma/gēge/jiějie/dìdi/mèimei shì .

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 60 Integrated Chinese • Level 1 Part 1 • Textbook

Culture Highlights

In pairing up kinship terms, the Chinese customarily say the term for the male

爸爸妈妈 (bàba māma, dad and mom),

before that for the female:

哥哥姐姐 (gēge jiějie, older brothers and sisters), and 弟弟妹妹

(dìdi mèimei, younger brothers and sisters). People seldom say 妈妈

爸爸 (māma bàba, mom and dad), 姐姐哥哥 (jiějie gēge, older

sisters and brothers), 妹妹弟弟 (mèimei dìdi, younger sisters and
brothers). In pairing up kinship terms for the same gender, the one with

seniority is mentioned first: 哥哥弟弟 (gēge dìdi, older and younger

brothers),姐姐妹妹 (jiějie mèimei, older and younger sisters). People
seldom say 弟弟哥哥 (dìdi gēge, younger and older brothers) or

妹妹姐姐 (mèimei jiějie, younger and older sisters).

Siblings are 兄弟姐妹 (xiōng dì jiě mèi). 你有兄弟姐妹吗?

(Nǐ yǒu xiōng dì jiě mèi ma?) is the way to ask, “Do you have any siblings?”

Eldest siblings are called 大哥 (dàgē, eldest brother) and 大姐 (dàjiě,

eldest sister); the youngest are 小弟 (xiǎodì, youngest brother) and 小妹
(xiǎomèi, youngest sister). The rest are ranked according to their birth order
using numerals, e.g., 二姐 (èrjiě, second eldest sister), 三弟 (sāndì, third
oldest younger brother). Younger siblings generally do not refer to their elder
brothers and sisters by their names but use the appropriate kinship terms
instead.

一家八口人
yì jiā bā kǒu rén

Tiêng Trung Mr.Lee

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 Lesson 2 • Family 61

On both sides of the Taiwan Strait, the school system is similar to that in the
United States. A typical course of education consists of six years of elementary

school (小学 xiǎoxué), six years of middle school (中学 zhōngxué), and
four years of university (大学 dàxué) or college (学院 xuéyuàn). Middle

school is further divided into three years of junior high (初中 chūzhōng) and

three years of senior high (高中 gāozhōng). Many children also attend
kindergarten before they enter elementary school. Now that you have learned

that a college student is called 大学生 (dàxuéshēng) in Chinese, can you

guess the words for elementary school students, junior high school students, and
senior high school students?

Can you figure out if this is the main gate of an elementary school, a middle school, or a university?

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 62 Integrated Chinese • Level 1 Part 1 • Textbook

Pronunciation Exercises

Initials:

1. zhè chè shè rè

2. zhǎo chǎo shǎo rǎo

3. zhèn chèn shèn rèn

4. zhāng chāng shāng rāng

The final “e”:

1. gē dé zhè hē

2. kē tè chē shé

3. zé cè sè rè

Compound Finals:

1. dōu duō tóu tuó

2. duī diū shuǐ xuě

3. shùn xùn jiū zhuī

4. lüè nüè juè què

Tones:

1. chénggōng 2. chángcháng 3. rénkǒu 4. xuéxiào

5. Chángjiāng 6. Chángchéng 7. míngxiǎn 8. chídào

The neutral tone:

1. māma 2. dìdi 3. jiějie 4. mèimei

5. bàba 6. gēge 7. jǐ ge 8. zhè ge

Tiêng Trung Mr.Lee

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 Lesson 2 • Family 63

English Text
Dialogue I
(Wang Peng is in Gao Wenzhong’s room and points to a picture on the wall.)
Wang Peng: Gao Wenzhong, is that picture yours?
(They both walk toward the picture and then stand in front of it.)
Gao Wenzhong: Yes. This is my dad. This is my mom.
Wang Peng: Who is this girl?
Gao Wenzhong: She is my older sister.
Wang Peng: Is this boy your younger brother?
Gao Wenzhong: No, he is my oldest brother’s son.
Wang Peng: Does your oldest brother have any daughters?
Gao Wenzhong: He doesn’t have any daughters.

Dialogue II
Li You: Bai Ying’ai, how many people are there in your family?
Bai Ying’ai: There are six people in my family: my dad, my mom, an older brother, two
younger sisters and me. Li You, how many people are there in your family?
Li You: There are five people in my family: my dad, my mom, my oldest sister, my
second oldest sister, and me. What do your dad and mom do?
Bai Ying’ai: My dad is a lawyer. My mom is an English teacher. My older brother and
younger sisters are all college students.
Li You: My mom is also a teacher. My dad is a doctor.

PROGRESS CHECKLIST

Before proceeding to Lesson 3, be sure that you can complete the follow-
ing tasks in Chinese:
I am able to—

Say and write the kinship terms for my family members;

Identify different family members in a family photo;
Ask someone how many family members he or she has;
Ask someone if he or she has any siblings;
Mention my family members’ professions and my own;
Ask someone what he or she does as a profession;
Say and write some common professions.
Please review the lesson if any of these tasks seem difficult.

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 Tiêng Trung Mr.Lee

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