How to say “maternal grandmother” in Chinese

外婆

wàipó

maternal grandmother (south)

noun · HSK 5 · topic “Family and loved ones”

“Maternal grandmother” in Chinese is 外婆, wài pó: the meaning, a recording of how it sounds, the characters stroke by stroke and examples.

How to pronounce it

外婆 is read wài pó: 2 syllables. The tone is part of the word: with another melody you get another word, or just a jumble of sounds.

wài — 4th tonesharply falling, like “Stop!”

pó — 2nd tonerising, like a surprised “huh?”

How to write it

外

wài — outside

婆

pó — old woman, grandma

Below, 女 “woman”; on top, 波 bō hints at the reading. In 老婆 it takes the neutral tone: po.

Strokes go in order: top to bottom and left to right, horizontal before vertical. Tap a character to open its page, with the strokes shown large and the words it appears in. To train your hand, print a handwriting sheet for “外婆”.

Examples

Sentences from the course lessons with 外婆. Tap the sound icon to listen.

外婆每天帮我们看2孩子wàipóměitiānbāngwǒmenkānháiziGrandma helps us look after our child every day.

More words from the lesson “Grandma and Grandpa”

Look up another word in the Chinese–English dictionary: in English, in pinyin or in characters.

Frequently asked questions

How do you say “maternal grandmother” in Chinese?

“Maternal grandmother” in Chinese is 外婆, pinyin wàipó.

What does 外婆 mean?

外婆 (wàipó) means “maternal grandmother (south)”.

How do you write 外婆?

外婆 is 2 characters: 外 (wài) — outside; 婆 (pó) — old woman, grandma. The stroke order of each one is shown step by step on this page.

How do you pronounce 外婆?

外婆 is read wàipó. Tones: wài — fourth tone, pó — second tone. The page has a native speaker recording.

“maternal grandmother” in the lesson “Grandma and Grandpa”

This word is from the topic “Family and loved ones” of HSK 5. In the lesson you hear it in a dialogue, build a sentence with it and say it out loud. Start for free, no sign-up needed.

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