那

nā, nuó, nǎ, nà

二 + 刀 + 阝

HSK 2.0Level 1

HSK 3.0Level 1

Definitions

nà (pronoun) that; those

nà (adverb) then; in that case

nèi (prounoun) that; those (colloquial pronunciation)

Etymology

Phonosemantic compound. ⻏ represents the meaning and 冄 represents the sound.

About

The character 那 (nà) is structured as a phono-semantic compound, with the right-side component ⻏ (yì) conveying the meaning 'city' or 'settlement', while 冄 (rǎn) on the left indicates the pronunciation. In its earliest documented usage, it functioned as a proper noun designating a specific ancient state or geographic territory. Later, it underwent phonetic borrowing: its original geographic meaning was entirely discarded, and it assumed the grammatical role of the primary distal demonstrative pronoun in Chinese, corresponding to English 'that', and used to point out people, objects, or concepts distant from the speaker.

Etymology Hide

Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)

Seal Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)

Clerical Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Traditional Modern

Simplified Modern

Example Sentences Hide

那是我的狗。

Nà shì wǒ de gǒu.

That is my dog.

那里有很多人。

Nàlǐ yǒu hěnduō rén.

There are many people there.

那么我们现在走吧。

Nàme wǒmen xiànzài zǒu ba.

Then let's go now.

那个孩子很聪明。

Nàge háizi hěn cōngmíng.

That child is very smart.

如果你不去，那我也不去。

Rúguǒ nǐ bù qù, nà wǒ yě bù qù.

If you don't go, then I won't go either.

那本书的内容非常有趣。

Nà běn shū de nèiróng fēicháng yǒuqù.

The content of that book is very interesting.

在那种情况下，我们应该冷静。

Zài nà zhǒng qíngkuàng xià, wǒmen yīnggāi lěngjìng.

In that kind of situation, we should stay calm.

尽管那时很困难，但他从未放弃。

Jǐnguǎn nàshí hěn kùnnan, dàn tā cóngwèi fàngqì.

Even though it was very difficult at that time, he never gave up.

Related Characters

Composed characters:

Component: 二

Component: 刀

Component: 阝

那