<p>年 is not measure word. It is noun.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>那年夏天: the summer of that year</p>
<p>那个夏天: that summer</p>
</blockquote>
<p>They both refer to a specific summer, but the first one leaves the context on the year, while the second one solely focuses on the summer. To demonstrate the difference with follow-up questions:</p>
<p>Conversation 1:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>那年夏天特别热。It was extremely hot in the summer of that year.</p>
<p>哪一年？Which year?</p>
<p>北京奥运那一年。The year Olympics was held in Beijing.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Conversation 2:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>那个夏天特别热。It was extremely hot in that summer.</p>
<p>哪个夏天？Which summer?</p>
<p>咱们一起去海边的那个夏天。The summer when you and I went to the seaside together.</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-11-25T23:07:54.090Z
Interesting. In English, when you ask me which year, I can't sensibly answer by specifying a season. But when you ask me which season, I can answer by specifying the year. I could answer "The year we went to the seaside together" - would this be ok in Chinese as well? 咱们一起去海边的年？
Matt Chambers
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-11-25T23:09:50.483Z
Your answer brings up some other questions (sorry). Although you say it isn't a measure word, 年 is definitely getting some special treatment. Instead of 哪个年 or 哪年 you say 哪一年. Is your way the only idiomatic way? I'm also missing 的 in your first conversation; why isn't it there, i.e. 北京奥运的那一年？Finally, is the 那个 necessary? Can the answer instead be: 咱们一起去海边的夏天.
Matt Chambers
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-11-25T23:27:23.977Z
@MattChambers Completely orthogonal to your question, 年 doesn't need a measure word (e.g., 三年 and not 三个年). Also, 一 can always be put between 那 and an MW+object, (e.g., 那一年, 这一个夏天). Often, the 一 is not written but shows up in the pronunciation of 那 or 这 (as nei4 or zhei4).
Stumpy Joe Pete
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-11-25T23:30:34.193Z
Nice! I hadn't before seen an explanation of the alternative pronunciations of zhe and nei. But I would never say/write zhei4 shi4 or zhe4 yi1 shi4, right?
Matt Chambers
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-11-26T01:04:10.357Z
@MattChambers It is natural to say 咱们一起去海边的那(一)年, 北京奥运那(一)年, 咱们一起去海边的那(一)个夏天. The omission of 的 is idiomatic and prosodic, there isn't a simple rule. In the last sentence, 那(一)个 is grammatically required unless you're writing poems.
NS.X.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-09-08T11:29:24.560Z
@MattChambers 那年夏天 = 那年的夏天 = 那一年的夏天, while 那个夏天 = 那一个夏天, attention, there isn't the omitted **的** here.
xenophōn
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-11-25T22:34:38.983Z
2014-11-25T22:34:38.983Z
2020-06-17T09:50:11.587Z
NS.X.
<p>in 那年夏天  那年 is an attributive （定语）modifying or restricting the noun 夏天， it seems the phrase can be expanded to 那年的夏天， 那个夏天 is without this attributive，instead the noun  夏天 is preceded by the demonstrative pronoun 那，demonstrative pronouns 这，那 like numerals according to grammar rules require measure words，but in the case of 这 and 那 are often omitted，so although 那个年的夏天 seems correct it can be shortened to 那年（的）夏天，and  although when used by itself to refer to a certain  time it seems 个  should not be omitted from 那个夏天，when used  attributively it often is as in 那夏天的台风</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-11-25T22:53:04.273Z
2014-11-25T22:53:04.273Z
user6065
<p>Conversation 1:
:记得13年吗?  Remember '13? 
:记得,那年夏天特别热   I remember, that year's summer was particularly hot.</p>

<p>Conversation 2:
:记得13年的夏天吗?  Remember the summer of '13? 
:记得,那个夏天特别热   I remember, that summer was particularly hot.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-11-26T06:21:36.793Z
2014-11-26T10:11:30.770Z
2014-11-26T10:11:30.770Z
Fan Applelin
<p>I asked a native speaker whether these phrases were equivalent in meaning and she said no (although agreeing that they both ultimately do "point" to the same concept). I asked if 年 here is basically a measure word and she said no. Is that right?</p>

<grammar><measure-word>
Is there a difference in meaning between 那年夏天 and 那个夏天
# Is there a difference in meaning between 那年夏天 and 那个夏天

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-11-25)

I asked a native speaker whether these phrases were equivalent in meaning and she said no (although agreeing that they both ultimately do "point" to the same concept). I asked if 年 here is basically a measure word and she said no. Is that right?

**Tags:** grammar, measure-word


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## 3 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2014-11-25. Score: 12

年 is not measure word. It is noun.

> 那年夏天: the summer of that year
>
> 那个夏天: that summer

They both refer to a specific summer, but the first one leaves the context on the year, while the second one solely focuses on the summer. To demonstrate the difference with follow-up questions:

Conversation 1:

> 那年夏天特别热。It was extremely hot in the summer of that year.
>
> 哪一年？Which year?
>
> 北京奥运那一年。The year Olympics was held in Beijing.

Conversation 2:

> 那个夏天特别热。It was extremely hot in that summer.
>
> 哪个夏天？Which summer?
>
> 咱们一起去海边的那个夏天。The summer when you and I went to the seaside together.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Interesting. In English, when you ask me which year, I can't sensibly answer by specifying a season. But when you ask me which season, I can answer by specifying the year. I could answer "The year we went to the seaside together" - would this be ok in Chinese as well? 咱们一起去海边的年？  
> **username_0**: Your answer brings up some other questions (sorry). Although you say it isn't a measure word, 年 is definitely getting some special treatment. Instead of 哪个年 or 哪年 you say 哪一年. Is your way the only idiomatic way? I'm also missing 的 in your first conversation; why isn't it there, i.e. 北京奥运的那一年？Finally, is the 那个 necessary? Can the answer instead be: 咱们一起去海边的夏天.  
> **username_2**: @username_0 Completely orthogonal to your question, 年 doesn't need a measure word (e.g., 三年 and not 三个年). Also, 一 can always be put between 那 and an MW+object, (e.g., 那一年, 这一个夏天). Often, the 一 is not written but shows up in the pronunciation of 那 or 这 (as nei4 or zhei4).  
> **username_0**: Nice! I hadn't before seen an explanation of the alternative pronunciations of zhe and nei. But I would never say/write zhei4 shi4 or zhe4 yi1 shi4, right?  
> **username_1**: @username_0 It is natural to say 咱们一起去海边的那(一)年, 北京奥运那(一)年, 咱们一起去海边的那(一)个夏天. The omission of 的 is idiomatic and prosodic, there isn't a simple rule. In the last sentence, 那(一)个 is grammatically required unless you're writing poems.  
> **username_3**: @username_0 那年夏天 = 那年的夏天 = 那一年的夏天, while 那个夏天 = 那一个夏天, attention, there isn't the omitted **的** here.  

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### Answer by username_4 on 2014-11-25. Score: 2

in 那年夏天 那年 is an attributive （定语）modifying or restricting the noun 夏天， it seems the phrase can be expanded to 那年的夏天， 那个夏天 is without this attributive，instead the noun 夏天 is preceded by the demonstrative pronoun 那，demonstrative pronouns 这，那 like numerals according to grammar rules require measure words，but in the case of 这 and 那 are often omitted，so although 那个年的夏天 seems correct it can be shortened to 那年（的）夏天，and although when used by itself to refer to a certain time it seems 个 should not be omitted from 那个夏天，when used attributively it often is as in 那夏天的台风


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### Answer by username_5 on 2014-11-26. Score: 0

Conversation 1:
:记得13年吗? Remember '13?
:记得,那年夏天特别热 I remember, that year's summer was particularly hot.

Conversation 2:
:记得13年的夏天吗? Remember the summer of '13?
:记得,那个夏天特别热 I remember, that summer was particularly hot.


---

