Meaning of 大家
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- everyone
- influential family
- great expert
How to use 大家
大家 is a pronoun for everyone in a group, and it is very common when speaking to a room of people. It can stand alone or come right after 我们 or 你们, as in 我们大家 (all of us). Example: 大家好。(Dàjiā hǎo.) Hello, everyone.
大 (dà) means big and 家 (jiā) means family or home. Picture one big family where everyone is included, and you have 大家, everyone.
Common mistake: Learners often add 们 and say 大家们, but 大家 is already plural, so just say 大家. Also keep the tones as fourth plus first, dàjiā, not dàjià.
大家 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
家 jiā · home · 10 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
Related words
Words that share a character with 大家.
| 回家 | huí jiā | to return home |
| 国家 | guójiā | country; nation; state |
| 家里 | jiā li | home |
| 家人 | jiārén | family member; (old) servant |
| 大学 | dàxué | university; college |
| 在家 | zàijiā | to be at home; (at a workplace) to be in (as opposed to being away on official business 出差 |
| 大学生 | dàxuéshēng | university student; college student |
| 不大 | bù dà | not very (clear, far away etc); not too; not often; infrequently |
| 大人 | dàren | adult; grownup |
| 家庭 | jiātíng | family; household |
| 长大 | zhǎngdà | to grow up |
| 大部分 | dàbùfen | the greater part; the majority; most; Taiwan pr. [da4bu4fen4] |
Questions about 大家
What does 大家 mean?
大家 (dàjiā) means "everyone; influential family" and is used as a pronoun.
How do you write 大家?
大家 is made of 2 characters: 大 (3 strokes), 家 (10 strokes). That is 13 strokes in total.
Is 大家 an HSK word?
Yes. 大家 is on the HSK 2 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 大家 and 所有人?
大家 (dàjiā) usually means everyone present or everyone in the group you are talking to, and it sounds warm and natural in speech. 所有人 (suǒyǒu rén) means all people without exception and sounds more literal and emphatic.
Can 大家 mean something other than everyone?
Yes. In more formal or written Chinese it can mean a great expert or master in a field, or an influential family. In everyday conversation, though, it almost always means everyone.