兄弟(きょうだい)

Meaning and gender

兄弟(きょうだい) is written with the kanji for 'older brother' and 'younger brother,' but in modern usage it normally means siblings in general, regardless of gender. Sense 2 (male siblings only) is clear from context — for example when the number of brothers is contrasted with the number of sisters. For sisters specifically, use 姉妹(しまい).

Asking about SOMEONE'S siblings

• 兄弟(きょうだい)は何人(なんにん)いますか (How many siblings do you have?)
• ご兄弟(きょうだい)は？ - the honorific prefix ご is normal when asking about another person's family, and is left off when talking about your own.

Counting - an easy trap

Two similar-looking patterns count differently:

• 兄弟(きょうだい)が三人(さんにん)います = 'I have three siblings' (three besides yourself, four children in all).
• 三人(さんにん)兄弟(きょうだい)です = 'we are three siblings' (three children in all, yourself included).

The compound form 三人(さんにん)兄弟(きょうだい) describes the size of the sibling group, so it counts the speaker as well.

Common compound

兄弟(きょうだい)げんか (sibling quarrel) - note the rendaku: 喧嘩(けんか) becomes げんか in this compound, and it is usually written in kana.

Related words

兄(あに) (older brother), 弟(おとうと) (younger brother), 姉(あね) (older sister), 妹(いもうと) (younger sister), 一人(ひとり)っ子(こ) (only child).