Be ready to use these many different terms when people ask about your family or introduce theirs.
The Right Words in the Right Context
Be careful not to use formal words when talking to friends, for example: you would sound cold and unfriendly. When writing, you should also avoid using relaxed, spoken Chinese forms.
In Written and Formal Spoken Chinese
Parents and children are called:
[A] 父母 fùmǔ / fuhmuu “parents [literally: father, mother]” (note how the order is the opposite of English “mother and father”)
[B] 子女 zǐnǚ / tzyyneu “children [literally: son, daughter]” (子 and 女 as individual characters might appear on an ID document: 長子zhǎngzǐ / jaangtzyy “oldest son” and 長女 zhǎngnǚ / jaangneu “oldest daughter”)
[C] 父親 fùqin / fuh.chin “father”
[D] 母親 mǔqin / muu.chin “mother”
In More Relaxed Spoken Chinese
Parents and children are called:
[E] 爸爸 bàba / bah.bah “father”
[F] 媽媽 māma /mha.mha “mother”
[G] 兒子 érzi / erltz “son”
[H] 女兒 nǚ’ér / neuerl
[I] 老大 lǎodà / laodah [my] oldest [son or daughter]
Practice and remember to use these words whenever you introduce your own family:
If you have more than one child, for example, remember to introduce the oldest as 老大: 這是老大 Zhè shì lǎodà / Jeh shyh laodah “This is my oldest”. Chinese culture is high context, so there is no need to specify what can be understood from context (son or daughter). Other terms will be introduced in a later post.
Subtle Point
Also notice that when speaking of one’s family, 我的 wǒde / wood can be abbreviated as 我: 這是我爸爸/父親 etc. Zhè shì wǒ bàba (fùqin) / Jeh shyh woo bah.bah (fuh.chin) "This is my [literally: I] father"
BTW, also notice that no matter how close you feel to your pets, you should never say 這是我貓 (狗) Zhè shì wǒ māo (gǒu) / Jeh shyh woo mhau (goou)
Instead, say 這是我的貓狗 這是我的貓 (狗) Zhè shì wǒde māo (gǒu) / Jeh shyh wood mhau (goou) “This is my cat (dog).
Please do leave comments or questions about these words!