兄弟
きょうだい
hepburn kyoudai
siblings, brothers (own)
Part of speech · noun
Pattern visualization
兄elder brother
Show part origins
弟younger brother
Show part origins
Show stroke order animation
5 strokes · 3.4s
7 strokes · 4.8s
Examples
- 兄弟は何人ですか。How many siblings do you have?
- 兄弟が二人います。I have two siblings.
Collocations
兄弟 (kyoudai, siblings)兄 (ani, older brother — about own)お兄さん (oniisan, older brother — polite)姉妹 (shimai, sisters)末っ子 (suekko, youngest child)
Mnemonic
兄弟 kyoudai = 兄 (older brother) + 弟 (younger brother) → siblings in general. The compound covers brothers and sisters: "kyoudai wa nannin?" (how many siblings?) includes sisters. Strictly sisters-only = 姉妹 (shimai). Family kinship registers are dense: ani (own older brother) vs oniisan (polite, someone else's older brother); otouto (own younger brother) vs otoutosan; ane vs oneesan; imouto vs imoutosan. Double axis: insider / outsider + politeness. Core to Japan's uchi / soto (in-group / out-group) consciousness. PATCH-4 v3 note: kinship vocab is best learned as a register matrix.
Quick check
What does the question "兄弟は何人ですか" include?