表哥

biǎogē

noun #8,677

Measure Word

一个表哥 gè

Meanings

1 older male cousin (on mother's side, or father's sister's side)
2 male cousin (older, from a different surname)

Characters

external; outside; maternal side

Examples

我表哥下个月结婚。

Wǒ biǎogē xià gè yuè jiéhūn.

My cousin is getting married next month.

表哥比我大三岁。

Biǎogē bǐ wǒ dà sān suì.

My cousin is three years older than me.

小时候我经常去表哥家玩。

Xiǎoshíhòu wǒ jīngcháng qù biǎogē jiā wán.

When I was little, I often went to my cousin's house to play.

Tips

culture

Chinese distinguishes maternal vs paternal cousins. 表哥 is a cousin with a different surname (mother's brother's son, or father's sister's son). A same-surname paternal cousin is 堂哥. English lumps them all as 'cousin.'

grammar

The full set: 表哥 (older male), 表弟 (younger male), 表姐 (older female), 表妹 (younger female) — all for maternal-side or cross-surname cousins.

Stroke Order

表 biǎo

哥 gē