How to use demonstrative words in Mandarin Chinese?

Demonstrative words are used to point out (or demonstrate) a particular object, as in “that pair of boots over there.”

In this article, we will focus on the most common demonstrative words in Mandarin Chinese:

• 这 (transcribed zhè, meaning “this”)

• 那 (transcribed nà, meaning “that”)

• 这些 (transcribed zhèxiē, meaning “these”)

• 那些 (transcribed nàxiē, meaning “those”)

• 这里 (transcribed zhèli, meaning “here”)

• 那里 (transcribed nàli, meaning “there”)

We will answer the big questions: Do you use these words with measure words? Without? How do you form the plural form of the words? How do you use these words to indicate people and objects?

The list of demonstrative words is short, but you can’t get through even a short conversation without using them, so now is the time to see how to use them in Mandarin Chinese.

A demonstrative word is a word like “this” or “that” in English, or their plural counterparts “these” and “those.” As in all languages, talking about something can result in confusion when the speaker and the listener do not have the same understanding of the object. By calling attention to it (“that thing”), the speaker intends to establish that both he and the listener understand which thing is being referred to.

Additionally, in conversation, the speaker and the listener customarily use nonverbal cues to establish a shared sense of understanding of what is meant by these words. Usually the speaker will point or use other non-verbal cues to indicate the particular thing that is meant as “that thing.” Here we will focus on the verbal cues.

There are just six main demonstrative words in Mandarin Chinese:

1. 这 (transcribed zhè, meaning “this”)

2. 那 (transcribed nà, meaning “that”)

3. 这些 (transcribed zhèxiē, meaning “these”)

4. 那些 (transcribed nàxiē, meaning “those”)

5. 这里 (transcribed zhèli, meaning “here”)

6. 那里 (transcribed nàli, meaning “there”)

Let’s look at some examples below using each of the six demonstrative words:

1. 这是我的笔记本。

   Transcription: Zhè shì wǒde bǐjìběn.

   Translation: This is my notebook.
2. 那是你的钱包吗？

   Transcription: Nà shì nǐde qiánbāo ma?

   Translation: Is that your purse?
3. 这些衣服是谁的？

   Transcription: Zhèxiē yīfu shì shuí de?

   Translation: Whose clothes are these?
4. 我把那些书放在这里了。

   Transcription: Wǒ bǎ nàxiē shū fàng zài zhèli le.

   Translation: I put those books here.
5. 这里很漂亮。

   Transcription: Zhèli hěn piàoliang.

   Translation: It's pretty here.
6. 我的车停在那里了。

   Transcription: Wǒde chē tíng zài nàli.

   Translation: I parked my car there.

这 (transcribed zhè, meaning “this”) and 那 (transcribed nà, meaning “that”) are used to indicate “this” and “that” respectively. These words refer to a singular object, i.e. just one thing. This is identical to English: “This book” means only one book. Also, as in English, 这 (transcribed zhè, meaning “this”) refers to objects that are near the speaker, and 那 (transcribed nà, meaning “that”) refers to objects that are farther away from the speaker. The sentence pattern is as follows:

Let’s look at some examples of full sentences using 这 (transcribed zhè, meaning “this”) and 那 (transcribed nà, meaning “that”):

When you are pointing out more than one thing or you want to say “those people” instead of “that person,” all you have to do is replace the measure word with the word 些 (transcribed xiē, meaning “some”). Pretty simple, right? Note that 些 (transcribed xiē) replaces any singular measure word, whether it’s 个 (transcribed gè), 只 (transcribed zhī), 位 (transcribed wèi), 本 (transcribed běn), or something else. For some help with how to use measure words in Mandarin, check out our post with tips!

• 这个吉他 (transcribed zhègè jíta, meaning “that guitar”)

• 这些吉他 (transcribed zhèxiē jíta, meaning “these guitars”)

• 那本书 (transcribed nàběn shū, meaning “that book”)

• 那些书 (transcribed nàxiē shū, meaning “those books”)

Here are some full sentence examples. Note the word-for-word correspondence between English and Mandarin Chinese.

• 这些是我弟弟的玩具。

  Transcription: Zhèxiē shì wǒ dìdi de wánjù.

  Translation: These are my younger brother’s toys.
• 那些不是你的鞋，那些是我的。

  Transcription: Nàxiē búshì nǐde xié, nàxiē shì wǒde.

  Translation: Those are not your shoes; those are mine.
• 这些手机都太贵了。

  Transcription: Zhèxiē shǒujī dōu tài guì le.

  Translation: These phones are all too expensive.
• 那些人在看什么？

  Transcription: Nàxiē rén zài kàn shénme?

  Translation: What are those people looking at?
• 老师们都很喜欢这些孩子们。

  Transcription: Lǎoshī men dōu hěn xǐhuān zhèxiē háizi men.

  Translation: All teachers like these kids.
• 你不用担心那些事。

  Transcription: Nǐ búyòng dānxīn nàxiē shì.

  Translation: You do not need to worry about those things.

We have seen that 这 (transcribed zhè) and 那 (transcribed nà) mean “this” and “that,” respectively, and now, we’re going to see how the words “here” and “there” are formed by adding a suffix to these words above. It’s very straightforward, but there are three options:

1. 里 (transcribed li, meaning “inside”)
2. 儿 (transcribed er, meaning “this is a retroflex sound”)
3. 边 (transcribed biān, meaning “side”)

When 这里 (transcribed zhèli, meaning “here”) or 那里 (transcribed nàli, meaning “there”) serve as the subject of a sentence, the verb is limited to 是 (transcribed shì, meaning “be”) or 有 (transcribed yǒu, meaning “there is/are”).

Please note that if an adjective follows 这里 (transcribed zhèli, meaning “here”) / 那里 (transcribed nàli, meaning “there”), there is no need to add 是 (transcribed shì, meaning “be”) or 有 (transcribed yǒu, meaning “there is/are”).

Here is a table of the demonstrative words in Mandarin Chinese:

Do not forget to take a look at our exercises!