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home / family / house

jiā
10 strokes · 宀 (roof) over 豕 (pig) · HSK 1

Where 家 comes from

家 is a roof (宀) with a pig (豕) underneath. In ancient agrarian China, a household kept its pig inside — livestock under your roof meant a settled, prosperous HOME. The pig was the sign you'd put down roots.

家 in Chinese culture

Family is the center of Chinese life, and 家 is everywhere: 我家 (my home/family), 家人 (family members), 回家 (go home), 国家 (nation — literally 'country-family'). 大家 means 'everyone' ('the big family') — a warm way Chinese addresses a group. 家 is also a suffix for experts: 作家 (writer), 画家 (painter).

Example

大家 dàjiā — everyone (the 'big family')

大家好!
Dàjiā hǎo!
Hello everyone!

How to remember it

A pig (豕) under a roof (宀) — livestock at home means a settled FAMILY.

大家 ('big family') is how you greet a group: 大家好 = 'Hello everyone!' And 国家 ('country-family') is the word for nation — to the Chinese, the state is the family writ large.

Same sound, different tones

1st jiā
home
2nd jiá
cheek
3rd jiǎ
fake
4th jià
price

Words unlocked by 家

我家 wǒ jiā
my home / my family
大家 dàjiā
everyone
家人 jiārén
family members
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