家母

jiāmǔ
noun #37,207

Meanings

  1. 1 my mother
  2. 2 my mother (used when speaking to someone outside the family)

Examples

HSK 3
Jiāmǔ shēntǐ yìzhí bú tài hǎo.
My mother's health has never been very good.
HSK 7-9
Zhè shì jiāmǔ qīnshǒu zuò de cài.
These are dishes my mother cooked herself.

Tips

register
家母 is a humble (谦称) form used only when speaking about your own mother to someone outside the family. The pattern 家 + kinship term works for 家父 (my father), 家兄 (my elder brother), 家姐 (my elder sister). Use the matching honorific 令 + term (令堂 'your mother', 令尊 'your father') to refer respectfully to the listener's family. In casual speech, just say 我妈.
mistakes
Never use 家母 for someone else's mother - it sounds nonsensical at best and rude at worst. And do not stack 我 in front (我家母 is wrong); the 家 already encodes 'my'.

Stroke Order

家 jiā
母 mǔ