家 (jiā): home, family
家 (jiā) is a Chinese character meaning “home, family.” Classified as HSK Level 1 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 宀 (semantic) and 豕 (phonetic). It ranks #56 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 家 roof. Its radical form 宀 (roof) appears in many related characters such as 客 (kè, guest, customer), 它 (tā, it), 安 (ān, safe, peace).
Definitions
- home, family
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 家 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 家
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 大家pronoun | dà jiā | everyone | 1 |
| 国家noun | guó jiā | country | 3 |
| 家庭noun | jiā tíng | family | 4 |
| 家人noun | jiā rén | family member | 1 |
| 专家noun | zhuān jiā | expert | 5 |
| 人家pronoun | rén jiā | household | 6 |
| 作家noun | zuò jiā | author | 4 |
| 家长noun | jiā zhǎng | head of a household | 4 |
| 搬家verb | bān jiā | to move house | 3 |
| 家乡noun | jiā xiāng | hometown | 4 |
| 家具noun | jiā jù | furniture | 4 |
| 家园noun | jiā yuán | home | 6 |
| 画家noun | huà jiā | painter | 3 |
| 老家noun | lǎo jiā | native place | 4 |
| 家属noun | jiā shǔ | family member | 6 |
| 家务noun | jiā wù | household duties | 5 |
| 家居noun | jiā jū | home | 6 |
| 厂家noun | chǎng jiā | factory | 6 |
| 家常noun | jiā cháng | the daily life of a family | 6 |
| 家电noun | jiā diàn | household electric appliance | 5 |
| 商家noun | shāng jiā | merchant | 5 |
| 家家户户noun | jiā jiā hù hù | each and every family (idiom) | 6 |
| 千家万户phrase | qiān jiā wàn hù | every family (idiom) | 6 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 家伙noun | jiā huo | variant of 家伙 |
| 回家verb | huí jiā | to return home |
| 家里noun | jiā lǐ | home |
| 家族noun | jiā zú | family |
| 在家verb | zài jiā | to be at home |
| 艺术家noun | yì shù jiā | artist |
| 科学家 | kē xué jiā | scientist |
| 一家noun | yī jiā | the whole family |
| 全家noun | quán jiā | whole family |
| 老家伙noun | lǎo jiā huo | variant of 老家伙 |
| 皇家noun | huáng jiā | royal |
| 无家可归 | wú jiā kě guī | (idiom) homeless |
| 私家adjective | sī jiā | private |
| 买家noun | mǎi jiā | buyer |
| 管家noun | guǎn jiā | (old) butler |
家 appears in 150 compound words: 30 as the first character, 61 as the last, and 9 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 家 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (83)
contention of the Hundred Schools of Thought; to let a hundred schools of thought contend
contention of the Hundred Schools of Thought; to let a hundred schools of thought contend
Showing 12 of 83 idioms containing 家.
Example Sentences
家是最温暖的地方，无论走多远都会想念。
Jiā shì zuì wēnnuǎn de dìfang, wúlùn zǒu duō yuǎn dōu huì xiǎngniàn.
Home is the warmest place; no matter how far you go, you will miss it.
视频丨繁荣昌盛,越来越好!这个春节听听大家给祖国的..
shì pín 丨 fán róng chāng shèng , yuè lái yuè hǎo ! zhè gè chūn jié tīng tīng dà jiā gěi zǔ guó de . .
Video丨Prosperity and prosperity, getting better and better! This Spring Festival, listen to what everyone has for the motherland:
...海乐高乐园度假区首个春节表现亮眼,成亲子家庭出行..
. . . hǎi lè gāo lè yuán dù jiǎ qū shǒu gè chūn jié biǎo xiàn liàng yǎn , chéng qīn zǐ jiā tíng chū háng . .
... Haile Highland Resort's first Spring Festival performance was eye-catching, and the family traveled as a parent-child family:
...停留3秒 为这5位空军勇士献花!今天是万家团圆的..
. . . tíng liú miǎo wéi zhè wèi kōng jūn yǒng shì xiàn huā ! jīn tiān shì mò jiā tuán yuán de . .
... Stop for 3 seconds and lay flowers for these 5 Air Force warriors! Today is the day of family reunion...
守护万家灯火,90后山东小伙的萧山变电站除夕夜
shǒu hù mò jiā dēng huǒ , hòu shān dōng xiǎo huǒ de xiāo shān biàn diàn zhàn chú xī yè
Guarding the lights, 90 years after the Shandong boy's Xiaoshan substation New Year's Eve
普通人也能开飞机回家过年了?飞2小时油费只要200..
pǔ tōng rén yě néng kāi fēi jī huí jiā guò nián le ? fēi xiǎo shí yóu fèi zhī yāo . .
Can ordinary people really fly home for the New Year? A two-hour flight costs just 200 yuan in fuel...
你是从哪个国家来的？
Nǐ shì cóng nǎge guójiā lái de?
What country are you from?
你会去访问其他国家吗？
Nǐ huì qù fǎngwèn qítā guójiā ma?
Are you going to visit any other countries?
大家都喜欢音乐吗？
Dàjiā dōu xǐhuan yīnyuè ma?
Does everybody love music?
我现在可以回家吗？
Wǒ xiànzài kěyǐ huíjiā ma?
Can I go home now?
Character Family
Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 宀 (roof) component
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 家 (jiā) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 家 and 逐?
How many strokes does 家 have?
What is the radical of 家?
What are the components of 家?
What are common words containing 家?
What characters sound the same as 家 (jiā)?
Is 家 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 家 with real-time feedback
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