弟弟 dìdi — younger brother

Meanings

1. 1

   younger brother

   A brother younger than the speaker. Chinese has no general word for "brother": the age relation is built into the word, so 弟弟 and 哥哥 are two separate items to learn.

   noun

Example sentences

• 我有一个弟弟。/我有一個弟弟。Wǒ (third tone, dipping) yǒu (third tone, dipping) yí (second tone, rising) ge (neutral tone) dìdi. (fourth tone, falling)···

  I have a younger brother.

• 弟弟比我小三岁。/弟弟比我小三歲。Dìdi (fourth tone, falling) bǐ (third tone, dipping) wǒ (third tone, dipping) xiǎo (third tone, dipping) sān (first tone, high and level) suì. (fourth tone, falling)···

  My brother is three years younger than me.

Common mistakes

• Not quite我的小哥哥

  Correct我弟弟

  You cannot build "younger brother" out of 小 plus 哥哥. The four sibling words 哥哥, 弟弟, 姐姐, 妹妹 each carry the age relation already.

Similar words