How to Say “Cousin” in Chinese
Relationships and family · HSK 3
"Cousin" in Chinese is 表哥 (biǎo gē). Chinese has no single word for 'cousin'; you must specify gender, age relative to you, and whether they're on the maternal or paternal side. 表 (biǎo) marks cousins through your mother's side or through your father's sisters; 堂 (táng) marks cousins through your father's brothers (same surname).
Primary translation
表哥
biǎo gē
Variants by register
Formal
表兄
biǎo xiōng
When to use it
Chinese has no single word for 'cousin'; you must specify gender, age relative to you, and whether they're on the maternal or paternal side. 表 (biǎo) marks cousins through your mother's side or through your father's sisters; 堂 (táng) marks cousins through your father's brothers (same surname). Then add 哥/姐 (older brother/sister) or 弟/妹 (younger). So 表哥 is an older male cousin on your mother's side. This precision reflects the Confucian emphasis on family structure. If you really don't know the exact relation, younger Chinese sometimes just say 我的 cousin using the English word.
Example sentences
我表哥在上海工作。
Wǒ biǎo gē zài Shàng hǎi gōng zuò.
My (older male) cousin works in Shanghai.
我有三个表妹和一个堂弟。
Wǒ yǒu sān ge biǎo mèi hé yí ge táng dì.
I have three younger female cousins (mom's side) and one younger male cousin (dad's side).
春节的时候我常常见表哥。
Chūn jié de shí hòu wǒ cháng cháng jiàn biǎo gē.
I often see my cousin during Spring Festival.