Meaning of 家
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- home
- family
- (polite) my (sister, uncle etc)
- classifier for families or businesses
- refers to the philosophical schools of pre-Han China
- noun suffix for a specialist in some activity, such as a musician or revolutionary, corresponding to English -ist, -er, -ary or -ian
Measure word: 個|个
- used in 傢伙|家伙[jia1 huo5] and 傢俱|家俱[jia1 ju4]
How to use 家
家 (jiā) means home or family and appears in very common words like 回家 (huí jiā, to go home), 大家 (dàjiā, everyone) and 国家 (guójiā, country). It is also a classifier for businesses and a suffix for specialists, as in 作家 (zuòjiā, writer). Example: 我想回家。 (Wǒ xiǎng huí jiā.) I want to go home.
家 has a roof 宀 on top and 豕 (shǐ, pig) underneath. Picture a pig sheltered under a roof, the sign of a settled household, and you have home and family.
Common mistake: Learners often write 家 with 豕 missing a stroke or confuse it with 字 (zì) or 安 (ān), which share the 宀 roof but have different parts underneath. Also note that 家 is first tone (jiā), not the fourth tone of 价 (jià, price).
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.
家 jiā · home · 10 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 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 |
| 在家 | zàijiā | to be at home; (at a workplace) to be in (as opposed to being away on official business 出差 |
| 大家 | dàjiā | everyone; influential family |
| 家庭 | jiātíng | family; household |
| 作家 | zuòjiā | author |
| 科学家 | kēxuéjiā | scientist |
| 家长 | jiāzhǎng | head of a household; family head |
| 全家 | quánjiā | whole family |
| 画家 | huàjiā | painter |
Questions about 家
What does 家 mean?
家 (jiā) means "home; family" and is used as a noun, measure word and suffix.
How do you write 家?
家 is made of 1 character: 家 (10 strokes). That is 10 strokes in total.
Is 家 an HSK word?
Yes. 家 is on the HSK 1 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How do I use 家 as a measure word?
Use 家 for shops, restaurants, companies and families, as in 一家饭馆 (yì jiā fànguǎn, a restaurant) or 三家公司 (sān jiā gōngsī, three companies). It is not used for individual people.
What is the difference between 家 and 家里?
家 alone can mean home or family, as in 回家 (huí jiā). 家里 (jiā li) adds the idea of inside the home, so it is natural for location, as in 我在家里 (wǒ zài jiā li, I am at home), and it can also refer to one's family members.