那些 (nà xiē) — those | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

那些 is the plural form of 那 — used for 'those' (multiple things/people far from the speaker). The singular/distant is 那个; the plural/near is 这些.

pronoun

those

Easily confused

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

那些 puts 那 'that' together with 些 'some' to refer to multiple distant things.

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'.

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Appears in