Lesson Five: How many people are there in your family?

Talking about your family in Chinese.

In lesson five we will be talking about our families and members of our families. New grammar introduces counting as well as the verbs have and have not. This lessons are more extensive than everything so far.

Conversation: 你家有几口人?

玛丽: 丽崋，你家有几口人？

mǎlì: lí huá, nĭ jiā yŏu jī kŏu rén?

Mary: Lihua, how many people are there in your family?

丽崋: 四口人。你家呢？

líhuá: sì kǒu rén。 nĭ jiā ne?

Li Hua: There are 4 people in my family. What about yours?

玛丽: 五口人。爸爸，妈妈，姐姐，弟弟和我。

mǎ lì: wǔ kǒu rén。 bà ba， mā ma，jiě jie，dì di hè wǒ。

Mary: There are 5 people in my family. My father, mother, elder sister, younger brother and I.

丽崋：你爸爸做什么工作？

lí huá: nĭ bà ba zuò shénme gōng­ zuò?

Li Hua: What does your father do?

玛丽：他是老师。他在大学工作。

mǎ lì: tā shì lăo shī。tā zài dà xué gōng zuò­.

Mary: He is a teacher. He works in a university.

丽崋：你姐姐工作吗？

lí huá: nĭ jiě jie gōng­ zuò ma?

Li Hua: Does your sister work?

玛丽：工作. 她是职员, 在银行工 作. 她结婚了, 她爱人是大夫, 他们没有孩子.

mǎ lì: gōng zuò。 tā shì zhí yuán zài yín háng gōng zuò。 tā jié hūn le。 tā ài rén shì dài fu tā men méi yŏu hái zi。

Mary: Yes she works. She work as a clerk in the bank. She is married, her husband is a doctor, they don’t have child.

New Words
口kǒumw. (a measure word for people in a family)
大学dà xué
n. university
和hèconj. and, as well as
了lept. Modal particle
没méiadv. no, not
孩子hái zin. child, children
学习xué xív. to study
职员zhí yuánn. employee, clerk
银行yín hángn. bank
电脑diàn nǎon. computer
上shàngv. to go to, to have
课kèn. class
下xiàv. to finish, to be over

Notes

1. 你家有几口人? = “How many people are there in your family?

几口人 is used to ask about the number of people in the family only. When one wants to ask about the number of people in an institution or a community, one should use the measure word 个 gè.

2. 你家有谁?­ = Who are there in your family?

The above sentence has the same meaning as 你家有什么人?
nĭ jiā yŏu shén me rén = What people are in your family.

谁 shéi can either be singular (one person) or plural (several persons).

Subsitution and Extension

Make new sentences by substituting the words provided.

1. 他学习英语.

  • 汉语
  • 日语
  • 韩语
  • 电脑

2. 她在银行工作.

  • 教室 – 上课
  • 宿舍 – 休息
  • 家 – 看电视

3. 他们有孩子吗?

  • 你 – 姐姐, 他 – 妹妹
  • 你 – 英语书, 他 – 汉语书

Grammar Points

1. The 有 sentence

A sentence with the predicate made up of 有 and its object is known as the 有 sentence. Such a sentence indicates possession. Its negative form is constructed by putting the adverb 没, but not 不, before 有. For example:

  • 我有汉语书.
  • 他没有哥哥.
  • 她没有日语书.

2. Prepositional constructions

The prepositional construction consists of a preposition and its object. It often occurs before a verb, serving as an adverbial adjunct, e.g. 在银行 and 在教室 in 在银行工作 and 在教室上课, respectively, are both prepositional constructions composed of the preposition 在 and its object.

Exercises

1. Fill in the blanks with the appropriate verbs in the brackets.

(听 写 学 习 看 有 叫 是)

  • 你___什么名字?
  • 你家___几口人?
  • 我___学生.
  • 她___汉语.
  • 我___音乐 (music).
  • 他____信 (letter).
  • 我们___电视 (television).

2. Complete the dialogues by making questions with 几

  • 玛丽有3个苹果。
  • 玛丽有几个苹果?
  • A: _______________________?
  • B: 明天星期四。
  • A: ________________________?
  • B: 明天是六月一号。
  • A: _______________________?
  • B: 王老师家有四口人。
  • A: _________________________?
  • B: 他有一个妹妹。

This is the end of the fifth lesson. Now would be a good time to review all the previous lessons before continuing on to the next lesson.