家
home; family
jiā
What does 家 mean?
家 (jiā) is one of the most semantically dense words in HSK 1 — it covers both 'home' (the physical place where you live) and 'family' (the people who live there), and English splits these into two words. Context tells which meaning is active: 回家 (huí jiā, 'go home') refers to the place; 我家有四个人 (my family has four people) refers to the people. 家 also functions as a noun suffix meaning 'specialist': 作家 (writer), 画家 (painter), 科学家 (scientist).
And it acts as a measure word for businesses and establishments: 一家饭馆 (a restaurant), 一家公司 (a company). For Mandarin learners the key shift from English is that 'my home' and 'my family' are often the same word in Chinese, and you rarely hear the equivalent of 'house' (房子) when 'home' is meant — Chinese defaults to 家.
Character breakdown
home; family (a roof 宀 over a pig 豕 — the ancient sign of a settled household)
Memory hook: The character 家 shows a pig (豕) under a roof (宀): in ancient China, owning livestock under your roof meant you had a home.
Measure word for 家
Example sentences
我要回家。
Wǒ yào huí jiā.
I want to go home.
spoken
我家有五个人。
Wǒ jiā yǒu wǔ ge rén.
There are five people in my family.
neutral
他不在家。
Tā bú zài jiā.
He's not at home.
spoken
我们家在北京。
Wǒmen jiā zài Běijīng.
Our home is in Beijing.
neutral
Common phrases with 家
Hear it in real Fluentide episodes
家 appears in 1 podcast episode at natural native speed, with full Chinese script, pinyin, and line-by-line English translation.
Synonyms
家庭 specifically means 'family' (the unit/structure) and is more formal — used in surveys, official forms, and writing. 家 is the everyday word that covers both home and family.
房子 means 'house / building' — the physical structure as real estate. 家 is where you live emotionally and socially. 'I bought a house' = 我买了一个房子 (the building); 'I'm going home' = 我回家 (the place that's mine).
Don't confuse 家 with
FAQ
Related words from the same episodes
Acquire by listening
Hear 家 in real Chinese, not in a flashcard.
Fluentide picks the next news episode at your level, so this word shows up again and again in real sentences. Pinyin, translation, and the episode where you heard it — every time. Free to start, no card.