Meaning of 父母
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- father and mother; parents
How to use 父母
父母 is a neutral, slightly formal word for parents, common in writing, forms, and polite speech. In casual talk people often say 爸妈 (bàmā) instead. Example: 我父母住在北京。(Wǒ fùmǔ zhù zài Běijīng.) My parents live in Beijing.
父 (fù) means father and 母 (mǔ) means mother, so putting them side by side gives you both parents. Father comes first, the same order as in English "father and mother."
Common mistake: Learners sometimes reverse the order and say 母父, which is not a word in Chinese. Also watch the tones: 父 is fourth tone (fù) and 母 is third tone (mǔ), so say fùmǔ, not fúmǔ.
父母 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.
父 fù · father · 4 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
母 mǔ · mother · 5 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
Related words
Words that share a character with 父母.
| 父亲 | fùqīn | father; also pr. [fu4 qin5] |
| 母亲 | mǔqīn | mother |
| 字母 | zìmǔ | letter (of the alphabet) |
| 师父 | shīfu | used for 師傅|师傅 (in Taiwan); master |
| 祖母 | zǔmǔ | father's mother; paternal grandmother |
| 祖父 | zǔfù | father's father; paternal grandfather |
| 父子 | fùzǐ | father and son |
| 母鸡 | mǔjī | hen; don't know (humorous slang mimicking Cantonese 唔知, Jyutping: m4 zi1) |
| 母女 | mǔnǚ | mother and daughter; mother-daughter |
| 母子 | mǔzǐ | mother and child; parent and subsidiary (companies) |
| 父女 | fùnǚ | father and daughter |
| 伯母 | bómǔ | wife of father's elder brother; aunt |
Questions about 父母
What does 父母 mean?
父母 (fùmǔ) means "father and mother; parents" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 父母?
父母 is made of 2 characters: 父 (4 strokes), 母 (5 strokes). That is 9 strokes in total.
Is 父母 an HSK word?
Yes. 父母 is on the HSK 3 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
Can I use 父母 to talk directly to my parents?
No. 父母 is used to talk about parents, not to address them. When speaking to them you call them 爸爸 (bàba) and 妈妈 (māma).
Do I need 的 in 我的父母?
Both 我父母 and 我的父母 are correct. With close family words, Chinese speakers usually drop 的, so 我父母 sounds more natural in speech.