Meaning of 家人
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- family member
- (old) servant
How to use 家人
家人 is a common, warm word for the people in your family, often used when talking about spending time with or missing them. It usually refers to family members as a group. Example: 我很想我的家人。(Wǒ hěn xiǎng wǒ de jiārén.) I really miss my family.
家 (jiā) means home or family, and 人 (rén) means person. Put them together and you get the people who belong to your home: your family members.
Common mistake: Learners often mix up 家人 (jiārén, family members) with 家里 (jiā li, at home). 我家里有四个人 means there are four people in my home, while 家人 points to the people themselves. Also keep the first-tone jiā level and high. Do not let it drop.
家人 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
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
人 rén · person · 2 strokes
- 1
- 2
Related words
Words that share a character with 家人.
| 女人 | nǚrén | woman |
| 男人 | nánrén | a man; a male |
| 回家 | huí jiā | to return home |
| 别人 | biérén | other people; others; other person |
| 国家 | guójiā | country; nation; state |
| 家里 | jiā li | home |
| 在家 | zàijiā | to be at home; (at a workplace) to be in (as opposed to being away on official business 出差 |
| 病人 | bìngrén | sick person; patient |
| 工人 | gōngrén | worker |
| 老人 | lǎorén | old man or woman; the elderly |
| 大家 | dàjiā | everyone; influential family |
| 有人 | yǒu rén | someone; people |
Questions about 家人
What does 家人 mean?
家人 (jiārén) means "family member; (old) servant" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 家人?
家人 is made of 2 characters: 家 (10 strokes), 人 (2 strokes). That is 12 strokes in total.
Is 家人 an HSK word?
Yes. 家人 is on the HSK 1 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 家人 and 家庭?
家人 means the people in your family, the members themselves. 家庭 (jiātíng) means the family as a unit or household, as in 家庭生活 (family life).
Does 家人 still mean servant?
The sense of servant is old and you will mostly see it in classical or historical texts. In modern Chinese, 家人 almost always means family member.