If you’ve ever tried speaking Chinese with natives, you might have found yourself wondering: how do I address this person respectfully, without sounding too informal? Well, don’t worry, because today we’re exploring how to do this in a way that sounds natural.

The basics: Mr., Mrs. and Miss

To start, you can use the most standard forms:

👨 先生 [xiānshenɡ] → Mr.

👩 女士 [nǚshì] → Mrs.

👧 小姐 [xiǎojiě] → Miss

Simply put their last name in front and voilà! For example, if someone’s surname is 何 [Hé], you would call them 和先生 [Hé xiānshēng].

Someone close to you? Use brother or sister

If you’re very close to the person you’re speaking to, in Chinese, you would usually refer to each other as if you were siblings:

👦 哥哥 [ɡēɡe] → older brother

👦 弟弟 [dìdi] → little brother

👩 姐姐 [jiějie] → old sister

👩 妹妹 [mèimei] → little sister

For example, say your best friend is 张雨彤 [Zhāng Yǔtóng] and she’s younger than you, you could called her 雨彤妹妹 [Yǔtóng mèimei] or simply 妹妹 [mèimei]. This is an affectionate way of speaking to close friends.

For older people: uncles and aunts

If someone is around 50-60 years old, you can refer to them as an uncle or an aunt:

👨 叔叔 [shūshu] → uncle

👩 阿姨 [āyí] → aunt

This doesn’t mean that they’re necessarily family, but it’s a respectful way to refer to them and suggests a close bond.

Professions: respect above all

In formal environments, it’s common to refer to someone using their profession. The structure is: surname + profession.

👩‍🏫 王老师 [Wáng lǎoshī] → teacher Wang

🩺 张医生 [Zhāng yīshēng] → doctor Zhang

This is respectful and polite. 

One final piece of advice: pay attention to how native speakers refer to each other, this will help you use these terms more naturally. 

Now you know how to address someone properly in Chinese. No need to panic about getting it wrong!