Meaning of 大姐
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- big sister
- elder sister
- older sister (also polite term of address for a girl or woman slightly older than the speaker)
How to use 大姐
大姐 can mean the eldest sister in a family, but it is also a common, warm way to address a woman a bit older than you, such as a shop owner or a stranger asking for directions. 大姐，请问地铁站在哪儿？(Dàjiě, qǐngwèn dìtiězhàn zài nǎr?) Excuse me, ma'am, where is the subway station?
大 (dà) means big and 姐 (jiě) means older sister, so 大姐 is literally the big older sister. Picture the oldest sister standing tall above her siblings.
Common mistake: Learners often use 小姐 (xiǎojiě) to address women older than them, but 大姐 is the friendlier choice for a woman slightly older than you, and 小姐 can sound odd or even negative in some contexts. Also keep 姐 in the third tone here, not the neutral tone it takes in 姐姐 (jiějie).
大姐 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
大 dà · big · 3 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
姐 jiě · older sister · 8 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
Related words
Words that share a character with 大姐.
| 小姐 | xiǎojiě | young lady; miss |
| 姐姐 | jiějie | older sister |
| 大学 | dàxué | university; college |
| 大学生 | dàxuéshēng | university student; college student |
| 不大 | bù dà | not very (clear, far away etc); not too; not often; infrequently |
| 大家 | dàjiā | everyone; influential family |
| 大人 | dàren | adult; grownup |
| 长大 | zhǎngdà | to grow up |
| 大部分 | dàbùfen | the greater part; the majority; most; Taiwan pr. [da4bu4fen4] |
| 大声 | dà shēng | loud voice; in a loud voice |
| 大量 | dàliàng | great amount; large quantity |
| 大多数 | dàduōshù | (great) majority |
Questions about 大姐
What does 大姐 mean?
大姐 (dàjiě) means "big sister; elder sister" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 大姐?
大姐 is made of 2 characters: 大 (3 strokes), 姐 (8 strokes). That is 11 strokes in total.
Is 大姐 an HSK word?
Yes. 大姐 is on the HSK 4 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
Is it rude to call a woman 大姐?
Usually not. It sounds friendly and respectful for women somewhat older than you. With a woman who is clearly younger or close to your age, she may feel you think she looks old, so 美女 (měinǚ) or no title at all might be safer.
What is the difference between 大姐 and 姐姐?
姐姐 (jiějie) is the everyday word for your own older sister. 大姐 stresses the eldest sister among several, and it is more often used as a term of address for women outside the family.