HSK 6 · Family

嫂子 sǎozi “sister-in-law (elder brother’s wife)” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 嫂子 means

  1. sister-in-law (elder brother’s wife)
  2. (coll.) older brother’s wife
  3. sister-in-law

How to say 嫂子

  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale嫂sǎo3rd tone, dipping
  • Pitch chart of the neutral tone: short and light, with no contour of its own子zineutral tone, light and short

Grey pinyin is a neutral tone: say it short and light. More on the neutral tone

嫂子 in a sentence

  1. 我嫂子是一名中学老师。

    Wǒ sǎozi shì yì míng zhōngxué lǎoshī.

    My sister-in-law is a secondary school teacher.

    Sentence by WillyChina

  2. 哥哥和嫂子下个月来看我们。

    Gēge hé sǎozi xià ge yuè lái kàn wǒmen.

    My older brother and his wife are coming to see us next month.

    Sentence by WillyChina

How 嫂子 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 嫂 (sǎo) with each of its parts in a different colour
嫂sǎoolder brother’s wife; sister-in-law
  • 女woman · nǚMeaning part
  • 叟old man · sǒuSound part

女 hints at the meaning (woman); 叟 (sǒu) hints at the sound. Compare it with sǎo.

The character 子 (zi) with each of its parts in a different colour
子zinoun suffix, as in 椅子 “chair”
  • 了clear · le
  • 一one · yī

Memory aidA baby with its arms out and its legs wrapped up.

How to write 嫂子

嫂 12 strokes · 子 3 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

嫂子 (sǎozi) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 嫂子 (sǎozi). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 嫂子

Words with 子

儿子érzi · son椅子yǐzi · chair桌子zhuōzi · table杯子bēizi · cup妻子qīzi · wife孩子háizi · child本子běnzi · book子zi · (common noun suffix)裤子kùzi · pants帽子màozi · hat

More words: People, Body & Health

君子jūnzǐ · gentleman配偶pèi'ǒu · spouse乞丐qǐgài · beggar人士rénshì · public figure生育shēngyù · to give birth绅士shēnshì · gentleman双胞胎shuāngbāotāi · twins泰斗tàidǒu · leading authority

FAQs

嫂子 (sǎozi) means “sister-in-law (elder brother’s wife)” or “(coll.) older brother’s wife”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it sǎozi: sǎo with a 3rd tone, then zi with a neutral tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 嫂子 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type saozi with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 嫂子 from the suggestions. Typing saozi into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
嫂子 is an HSK 6 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

Turn words into conversations

A dictionary gives you the words. A native teacher shows you how to use them. Start with a free 30-minute intro call.

Book a free intro call

Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences written by WillyChina. Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.