<![CDATA[Comments on: How many family members do you have?]]> 2009-08-06 18:00:00 <![CDATA[By: ihifhidf]]> when I started studying Chinese a few years back, I learned early on that the measure word for "family members" is 口 but I've never ever heard any one say 你家有几口人， or  我家有四口人。 I always hear 几个人。 What's the deal with that?

]]> when I started studying Chinese a few years back, I learned early on that the measure word for "family members" is 口 but I've never ever heard any one say 你家有几口人， or  我家有四口人。 I always hear 几个人。 What's the deal with that?

]]> <![CDATA[By: bababardwan]]> I was going to add,shouldn't it be 十口人[shi2kou3ren2..ten people]？I thought she had forgotten to count 我我 [wo3wo3..(me me) ] in.I thought it was a joke at first,that a newbie was counting each person twice due to the reduplification of the characters [or eg ba4ba..(father) being twice the man he ought to be...or each has a split personality].

Alternatively,this may be a representative family member.

]]> I was going to add,shouldn't it be 十口人[shi2kou3ren2..ten people]？I thought she had forgotten to count 我我 [wo3wo3..(me me) ] in.I thought it was a joke at first,that a newbie was counting each person twice due to the reduplification of the characters [or eg ba4ba..(father) being twice the man he ought to be...or each has a split personality].

Alternatively,this may be a representative family member.

]]> <![CDATA[By: changye]]> Hi ihifhidf

"你家有几口人？" is a more "graphic" way of saying "你家有几个人？". The measure word "口" is mainly used when referring to the number of family members and residents. The "口" (a mouth) implies "the number of people you need to feed". The best example should be "人口" (population). Interestingly, you can say the number of pigs by use of "口", like 三口猪 (zhu1), which is also very graphic.

]]> Hi ihifhidf

"你家有几口人？" is a more "graphic" way of saying "你家有几个人？". The measure word "口" is mainly used when referring to the number of family members and residents. The "口" (a mouth) implies "the number of people you need to feed". The best example should be "人口" (population). Interestingly, you can say the number of pigs by use of "口", like 三口猪 (zhu1), which is also very graphic.

]]> <![CDATA[By: connie]]> Hi ihifhidf

口kǒu is more commonly used in the northern China for the number of family members. In the south, people usually say "个".

]]> Hi ihifhidf

口kǒu is more commonly used in the northern China for the number of family members. In the south, people usually say "个".

]]> <![CDATA[By: wjefferys]]> I learned some important things in this lesson.

First, that '口' (kou3) as a measure word is used in this context restricted to family. (But note, that '人口' [ren2kou3] is a generic word for 'population', which doesn't refer to your particular family).

Second, I had always thought (incorrectly) that '姐姐' (jie3jie5) was pronounced as if the second 'jie' was third tone, so that because of tone sandhi, the combination would be second tone followed by third tone. But it is clear from this lesson that it is third tone followed by fifth (neutral) tone.

Newbies can go to the following WikiPedia link, and links connected to it, to learn more about tone sandhi:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tone_sandhi

 

 

]]> I learned some important things in this lesson.

First, that '口' (kou3) as a measure word is used in this context restricted to family. (But note, that '人口' [ren2kou3] is a generic word for 'population', which doesn't refer to your particular family).

Second, I had always thought (incorrectly) that '姐姐' (jie3jie5) was pronounced as if the second 'jie' was third tone, so that because of tone sandhi, the combination would be second tone followed by third tone. But it is clear from this lesson that it is third tone followed by fifth (neutral) tone.

Newbies can go to the following WikiPedia link, and links connected to it, to learn more about tone sandhi:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tone_sandhi

 

 

]]> <![CDATA[By: jennyzhu]]> When I hear 口, I always have the image of a big family waiting to be fed. And it was like that for a lot of people in China pre-only child policy. It was common for people to have 5 to 6 children or more. My parents came from such big families. And now we have gone to the other extreme.

]]> When I hear 口, I always have the image of a big family waiting to be fed. And it was like that for a lot of people in China pre-only child policy. It was common for people to have 5 to 6 children or more. My parents came from such big families. And now we have gone to the other extreme.

]]> <![CDATA[By: schiphol]]> i also learned that maternal grandparents is wai2 gong (grandpa) and wai2 po (grandmother) is that correct?

]]> i also learned that maternal grandparents is wai2 gong (grandpa) and wai2 po (grandmother) is that correct?

]]> <![CDATA[By: miantiao]]> sure is.

]]> sure is.

]]> <![CDATA[By: orangina]]> baba....

Maybe your little friend can be counted as 一屁股猪 yi1pi4gu5zhu1... one butt pig... to avoid confusion. I'm sure how many pigs you have to clean up after is as important as how many pigs you have to feed!

]]> baba....

Maybe your little friend can be counted as 一屁股猪 yi1pi4gu5zhu1... one butt pig... to avoid confusion. I'm sure how many pigs you have to clean up after is as important as how many pigs you have to feed!

]]> <![CDATA[By: jennyzhu]]> @schiphol,

That's correct. 外公/wai4 gong1 is maternal grandpa, 外婆/wai4 po2 is maternal grandma. You most probably know this, but 爷爷/ye2 ye is paternal grandpa, 奶奶/nai3 nai is grandma.

]]> @schiphol,

That's correct. 外公/wai4 gong1 is maternal grandpa, 外婆/wai4 po2 is maternal grandma. You most probably know this, but 爷爷/ye2 ye is paternal grandpa, 奶奶/nai3 nai is grandma.

]]>