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那年 (nà nián) — that year

Definition

那年 (nà nián) is a time expression meaning 'that year' — points back to a specific past year already implied by context. Unlike 那会儿 (nà huìr), it marks a whole year rather than a vague moment, and pairs naturally with 夏天, 春天 etc. for sub-periods.

noun
that year

Examples

  • 那年，。
    nà nián, Wǒ qù le běi jīng.
    That year, I went to Beijing.
  • 那年，。
    nà nián Xià tiān, wǒ men bì yè le.
    That summer, we graduated.
  • 那年？
    Nǐ hái jì de nà nián de shì ma?
    Do you still remember things from that year?

Origin

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
邑邑yìcity
Sound part声符shēngfú
冄
冉rǎn那nà
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The right part 邑 shows a city, and the left part 冄 (written 冉) gives the sound. The character first named a state and was later used to mean 'that'.

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Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
禾禾héwheat; grain
Sound part声符shēngfú
人
人rén年nián
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

年 pairs 禾 (grain) with 人, which gives the sound. Its original meaning was harvest, and it later came to mean a year.

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Appears in
Time (Abstract)

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