How to say “children” in Chinese
children (formal)
“Children” in Chinese is 子女, zǐ nǚ: the meaning, a recording of how it sounds, the characters stroke by stroke.
How to pronounce it
子女 is read zǐ nǚ: 2 syllables. The tone is part of the word: with another melody you get another word, or just a jumble of sounds.
Two third tones in a row: the first one is said as a second tone, but it is still written as a third.
How to write it
A picture of a swaddled baby. As a suffix it is read with the neutral tone: zi.
A picture of a seated woman.
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 “子女”.
More words from the lesson “Children and adults”
Look up another word in the Chinese–English dictionary: in English, in pinyin or in characters.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say “children” in Chinese?
“Children” in Chinese is 子女, pinyin zǐnǚ.
What does 子女 mean?
子女 (zǐnǚ) means “children (formal)”.
How do you write 子女?
子女 is 2 characters: 子 (zǐ) — child; suffix; 女 (nǚ) — woman, female. The stroke order of each one is shown step by step on this page.
How do you pronounce 子女?
子女 is read zǐnǚ. Tones: zǐ — third tone, nǚ — third tone. The page has an audio recording.
“children” in the lesson “Children and adults”
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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