那阵子 (nà zhèn zi) — that period of time; those days

Definition

A colloquial way to refer to a stretch of past time ('that period, those days'), longer than a single moment but not pinpointed on the calendar. More vivid and informal than the neutral 那时候.

noun
that period of timethose days

Examples

  • 那阵子。
    nà zhèn zi Wǒ hái zài běi jīng gōng zuò.
    At that time I was still working in Beijing.
  • 那阵子。
    nà zhèn zi Tā měi tiān dōu lái tú shū guǎn xué xí.
    In those days he came to the library every day to study.
  • 那阵子，。
    Zì cóng nà zhèn zi yǐ hòu, wǒ men jiù méi zài jiàn guò miàn.
    Since that period, we haven't seen each other again.

Origin

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nàthat
阵子a stretch of time
阵zhènperiod子zǐsuffix
后缀Suffix

那 points to a time, and 阵子 gives the sense of a stretch of days.

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'.

Open 那 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 陣; 阵 is its simplified writing.

  • 東東dōngsack?
  • 東東dōng
  • 攴攴pū

In the traditional form 陣, a left-side part was added to a shortened 東; the older shape also used 攴. The simplified 阵 is a later shorthand.

Open 阵 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

子 is drawn as a baby with a large head, arms stretched out, and legs wrapped in a blanket.

Open 子 →

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