How to Say “Grandfather” in Chinese
Relationships and family · HSK 2
"Grandfather" in Chinese is 爷爷 (Yéye). Chinese distinguishes paternal and maternal grandparents; 爷爷 (yéye) is specifically your father's father. Your mother's father is 外公 (wàigōng) in Mainland/Taiwan, or 姥爷 (lǎoye) in northern China.
Primary translation
爷爷
Yéye
Traditional: 爺爺
Variants by register
Formal
祖父
Zǔfù
Casual
爷爷
Yéye
When to use it
Chinese distinguishes paternal and maternal grandparents; 爷爷 (yéye) is specifically your father's father. Your mother's father is 外公 (wàigōng) in Mainland/Taiwan, or 姥爷 (lǎoye) in northern China. This split reflects old patrilineal family structure where paternal grandparents were 'inside' the family and maternal ones had 外 ('outside') prefixed. 祖父 (zǔfù) is the formal written term; you'd see it on official forms but not call your grandpa that to his face. The second 爷 is usually toneless in speech. Kids often stack it: 爷爷好!
Example sentences
我爷爷今年八十岁了。
Wǒ yéye jīnnián bāshí suì le.
My grandfather is eighty this year.
爷爷，我回来了！
Yéye, wǒ huílái le!
Grandpa, I'm home!
爷爷奶奶住在乡下。
Yéye nǎinai zhù zài xiāngxià.
Grandpa and grandma live in the countryside.