Which side?
Your father's parents and your mother's parents are four different words, not two. 奶奶 and 外婆 are not synonyms.
A field guide to Chinese kinship
Chinese kinship,
explained.
English has one word for grandmother, one for uncle, one for cousin. Chinese has two, five and eight — because every term tells you which side of the family, whether they are older or younger, and whose family you married into.
- 73terms
- 5generations
- 8words for cousin
- 2grandmothers
One word, two people
English says grandmother. Chinese asks: which one?
Your father's mother is 奶奶. Your mother's mother is 外婆 — or 姥姥 in the north. The same split runs through grandfathers, grandsons and nephews. It is not a vocabulary quirk; it is a different way of describing a family.
Read the grandmother guide爷爷yé yedad's dad
奶奶nǎi naidad's mom
外公wài gōngmom's dad
外婆wài pómom's mom
Guides
Find the relative you need
Nine guides, each built around one question: which word is the right one, and why. Every term includes characters, pinyin, tone marks and audio.
奶奶 / 外婆
Grandmother
Two words, two sides of the family.
Read the guide 爷爷 / 外公Grandfather
The same split, one generation up.
Read the guide 姐姐 / 妹妹Sister
Older or younger — the word says which.
Read the guide 哥哥 / 弟弟Brother
There is no neutral word for brother.
Read the guide 伯伯 / 舅舅Uncle
Five men English calls “uncle”.
Read the guide 姑姑 / 姨妈Aunt
Five aunts, split by side and marriage.
Read the guide 堂哥 / 表妹Cousin
Eight words for one English cousin.
Read the guide 公公 / 岳父In-laws
The word depends on who you are.
Read the guide 侄子 / 外甥Niece & nephew
Your brother's kids and your sister's kids.
Read the guideThe system
Three questions, seventy-three words
Once you can answer these three questions, you can predict a term you have never seen.
Older or younger?
There is no neutral “brother” or “sister”. 哥哥/弟弟 and 姐姐/妹妹 build age into the word itself.
堂 or 表?
Your father's brothers' children are 堂; everyone else's are 表. One English “cousin” becomes eight Chinese words.
Start here
See the whole family on one page
An interactive five-generation chart, all 73 terms, the cousin matrix and the in-law tables — with a printable version for your notes.
Open the Chinese family tree