Answer:
Yīnwèi jǐngchá shì zhègerénde jiějie.
因为 警察 是 这个人的 姐姐。
Because the cop is the young man’s elder sister.
The key word here is “警察(jǐngchá).” As we all know, English is a kind of inflectional language. So in English, we could say “policeman” and “police woman” to suggest the gender of the cop. However, as a non-inflectional language, Chinese only uses the term “警察(jǐngchá),” which could mean both policemen and policewomen. Also, “警察(jǐngchá)” refers to the staff at the police station, that is “the police.” To be more specific, you could say “男警察(nánjǐngchá) policeman” or “女警察(nǚjǐngchá) policewoman.”
Jǐngchá zhuāzhù le xiǎotōu.
警察 抓住 了 小偷。
The police caught the thief.
Nàgè nǚjǐngchá shì wǒde gāozhōng tóngxué.
那个 女警察 是 我的 高中 同学。
That policewoman is my high school classmate.
“哥哥(gēge)” and “姐姐(jiějie)” mean elder brother and elder sister in Chinese, while younger brother and younger sister are “弟弟(dìdi)” and “妹妹(mèimei).” You can add “大(dà),” “二(èr),” “三(sān),” or “小(xiǎo)” in front of these names when there is more than one older brother, etc., such as “大哥(dàgē) the eldest brother,” “二姐(èrjiě) the second eldest sister,” “三弟(sāndì) the third youngest brother,” and “小妹(xiǎomèi) the youngest sister.” Keep in mind that “大(dà)” can only be followed by “哥(gē)” and “姐(jiě),” and “小(xiǎo)” can only be followed by “弟(dì)” and “妹(mèi).”
Wǒ shì jiālǐ zuìxiǎode, wǒ yǒu yigè gēgē hé yigè jiějie.
我 是 家里最小的， 我 有 一个哥哥 和 一个 姐姐。
I am the youngest kid in my family. I have an elder brother and an elder sister.
Zhāng Jiāng de dàjiě shì lǎoshī, èrjiě shì yīshēng.
张 江 的 大姐 是 老师， 二姐 是 医生。
Zhang Jiang’s elder sister is a teacher and his second eldest sister is a doctor.
When learning how to address family members in Chinese, you might also come across names like “堂哥(tánggē),” “堂弟(tángdì),” “堂姐(tángjiě),” “堂妹(tángmèi),” “表哥(biǎogē),” “表弟(biǎodì),” “表姐(biǎojiě),” and “表妹(biǎomèi).” Many Chinese learners might be quite confused about this complicated kinship since all of them are simply replaced by “cousin” in English! However, there is a simple way to decide whether the person is your “堂兄弟姐妹(tángxiōngdìjiěmèi)” or “表兄弟姐妹(biǎoxiōngdìjiěmèi).” Generally, cousins who share the same family name as you are your “堂兄弟姐妹(tángxiōngdìjiěmèi),” otherwise, they are your “表兄弟姐妹(biǎoxiōngdìjiěmèi).” For example, the children of your father’s brothers are your “堂兄弟姐妹(tángxiōngdìjiěmèi),” while the children of your father’s sisters are your “表兄弟姐妹(biǎoxiōngdìjiěmèi).” And the children of your mother’s brothers and sisters are your “表兄弟姐妹(biǎoxiōngdìjiěmèi).”
Lǐ Míng hé tā tánggē zài tóngyígè gōngsī shàngbān.
李明 和 他 堂哥 在 同一个 公司 上班。
Li Ming and his cousin work in the same company.
Tīngshuō Lǐ Liàngde nǚpéngyǒu jiùshì Zhāng Mèng de biǎomèi ā.
听说 李亮的 女朋友 就是 张梦 的 表妹 啊！
I heard that Li Liang’s girlfriend is Zhang Meng’s cousin!
1. Which of the following means “policewoman” in Chinese?
A. 警察(jǐngchá)
B. 男警察(nánjǐngchá)
C. 女警察(nǚjǐngchá)
2. There are four kids in a family: Tom (25 years old), Tina (22 year old), Tiffany (20 years old) and Tony (18 years old). That means Tom is Tony’s __ and Tiffany is Tom’s __.
A. 大弟(dàdì), 三姐(sānjiě)
B. 大哥(dàgē), 三妹(sānmèi)
C. 大姐(dàjiě), 小弟(xiǎodì)
3. Terry is the son of your mother’s elder sister and you are older than him, so he is your __.
A. 堂妹(tángmèi)
B. 表哥(biǎogē)
C. 表弟(biǎodì)