ér zi
son
我有一个儿子。
wǒ yǒu yī gè ér zi.
I have a son.
我儿子的名字叫小明。
wǒ ér zi de míng zi jiào xiǎo míng.
My son's name is Xiaoming.
我儿子今年五岁了。
wǒ ér zi jīn nián wǔ suì le.
My son is five years old this year.
儿 (ér)
son
子 (zǐ)
son
小儿 (xiǎo ér)
little son
女儿 (nǚ'ér)
daughter
孙子 (sūnzi)
grandson
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The Chinese word 儿子 (érzi) for "son" is composed of two characters: 儿 (ér), which means "child" or "offspring", and 子 (zǐ), which means "male" or "son". The character 儿 is a pictograph depicting a child's head and shoulders, while the character 子 is a combination of the characters 宀 (mián), meaning "roof" or "house", and 子 (zǐ), meaning "male". Together, the two characters 儿子 (érzi) convey the idea of a male child or son. It is worth noting that the character 子 (zǐ) is also used in other words related to male offspring, such as 孙子 (sūnzi) for "grandson" and 曾孙子 (zēngsūnzi) for "great-grandson".
