Demonstratives: '这' and '那' — Mandarin Grammar

(zhèㄓㄜˋchê4) — this, and (nàㄋㄚˋna4) — that. Before a noun, they require a classifier: (zhè·ge rénㄓㄜˋ·˙ㄍㄜㄖㄣˊchê4·ko jên2) — this person, (nà běn shūㄋㄚˋ ㄅㄣˇ ㄕㄨna4 pên3 shu1) — that book. As standalone pronouns they work alone: (zhè shì shén·meㄓㄜˋ ㄕˋ ㄕㄣˊ·˙ㄇㄜchê4 shih4 shên2·mê) — what is this?

(nàㄋㄚˋna4) after a noun phrase often works like English "the" rather than stressing distance.

In the course

Sentences from Lingora’s Mandarin course

81 of the course's 500 sentences use this, the first in lesson 2. A few of them, with the words “Demonstratives: '这' and '那'” is about in bold:

这是我的朋友,安娜。她是一位学生。
zhè shì wǒ·de péng·you, ān·nà. tā shì yī wèi xué·sheng.ㄓㄜˋ ㄕˋ ㄨㄛˇ·˙ㄉㄜㄆㄥˊ·˙ㄧㄡ, ㄢ·ㄋㄚˋ. ㄊㄚㄕˋ ㄧㄨㄟˋ ㄒㄩㄝˊ·˙ㄕㄥ.chê4 shih4 wo3·tê p'êng2·yu, an1·na4. t'a1 shih4 yi1 wei4 shüeh2·shêng.
This is my friend, Anna. She is a student.
Lesson 2
这水很冷。那水很热。
zhè shuǐ hěn lěng. nà shuǐ hěn rè.ㄓㄜˋ ㄕㄨㄟˇ ㄏㄣˇ ㄌㄥˇ. ㄋㄚˋ ㄕㄨㄟˇ ㄏㄣˇ ㄖㄜˋ.chê4 shui3 hên3 lêng3. na4 shui3 hên3 jê4.
This water is cold. That water is hot.
Lesson 68
仔细一想,这是个坏主意。
zǐ·xì yī xiǎng, zhè shì gè huài zhǔ·yì.ㄗˇ·ㄒㄧˋ ㄧㄒㄧㄤˇ, ㄓㄜˋ ㄕˋ ㄍㄜˋ ㄏㄨㄞˋ ㄓㄨˇ·ㄧˋ.tsŭ3·shi4 yi1 shiang3, chê4 shih4 ko4 hwuai4 chu3·yi4.
On second thought, that is a bad idea.
Lesson 338

Comments

Loading comments…

Sentences from Lingora’s Mandarin course

More Mandarin grammar

Comments