双胞胎姐妹
shuāngbāotāi jiěmèi
The English phrase "twin sister" is translated into Chinese as 双胞胎姐妹 (shuāngbāotāi jiěmèi).
双胞胎姐妹 refers to a girl or woman who is one of two children born at the same birth to the same mother. If the gender of the twins is already clear from the context of your conversation, you may use the shorter term 双胞胎 to mean "twins".
What does it mean word for word?
The term is composed of 双胞胎 (shuāngbāotāi), meaning "twins" and 姐妹 (jiěmèi), meaning "sisters".
How does it change in a sentence?
The term 双胞胎姐妹 can be used to refer to a single twin sister as part of a pair, or it can be used to refer to the pair of twin sisters collectively.
How do you pronounce it?
shuāngbāotāi jiěmèi
Did you know?
- In some traditional Chinese beliefs, twins were historically viewed with caution as they were thought to be 'splitting' a single soul or destiny.
- When referring to sisters, 姐妹 (jiěmèi) lists the 'older sister' 姐 before the 'younger sister' 妹, reflecting the strict importance of age hierarchy in Chinese culture.
- In Chinese, the word 胞 (bāo) in 双胞胎 refers specifically to the 'placenta' or 'embryonic sac'. The term literally suggests children who shared the same protective sac in the womb.
Examples in context
- 我的双胞胎姐妹非常漂亮。My twin sister is very beautiful.
- 他和他的孪生妹妹关系非常亲密。He has a very close relationship with his twin sister.
- 她们是双胞胎姐妹。Tāmen shì shuāngbāotāi jiěmèi.They are twin sisters.
- 那对双胞胎姐妹长得很像。Nà duì shuāngbāotāi jiěmèi zhǎng de hěn xiàng.Those twin sisters look very much alike.
Example conversation
Two friends are looking at a photo.
- 晓雯 Xiaowen这是我的双胞胎姐妹。Zhè shì wǒ de shuāngbāotāi jiěmèi.This is my twin sister.
- 志强 Zhiqiang你们长得太像了！Nǐmen zhǎng de tài xiàng le!You two look so much alike!
- 晓雯 Xiaowen是的，大家都分不清。Shì de, dàjiā dōu fēn bù qīng.Yes, everyone has trouble telling us apart.
- 志强 Zhiqiang真是太神奇了。Zhēn shì tài shénqí le.That is truly amazing.
