那位 (nà wèi) — that person (polite/formal)

Definition

那位 is the polite, formal way to say 'that person' — roughly equivalent to English 'that gentleman/lady'. It is more respectful than 那个人, which sounds neutral or blunt.

pronoun
that person (polite/formal)

Examples

  • 那位。
    nà wèi Shì wǒ de lǎo shī.
    That person is my teacher.
  • 那位？
    Nín rèn shi nà wèi ma?
    Do you know that person?
  • 那位。
    nà wèi Zuò zài mén kǒu de lǎo rén hěn yǒu míng.
    That elderly person sitting at the door is very famous.

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
人人rénman
Sound part声符shēngfú
立
立lì位wèi
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

位 combines 人 (man), related to people, with 立, which gives the sound. It was often simply written as 立.

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