<p>In Chinese, 这 (zhe4, zhei4) (这个 这些) and 那 (na4, nei4) (那个 那些) are used very often. They are similar to the English demonstrative pronouns and demonstrative adjectives (this, that, these, those). Sometimes they are just used with minimal meanings but only to indicate or emphasize a thing, similar to the definitive article (the).</p>
<p>The difference between 这 and 那 is in the distance or scope in a physical or nonphysical measurement. For example,</p>
<p>(1) A: 电信局童主任派我来检查设备。B: <strong>这</strong>位童主任办事真讲效率。我昨天刚刚给他打过电话。（童主任 is already in the dialogue scope mentioned by A.)</p>
<p>(2) A: 电信局派我来检查设备。B: 是<strong>那</strong>位童主任派你来的吗？他办事真讲效率。我昨天刚刚给他打过电话。（童主任 is not in the dialogue scope yet. It is first mentioned by B.)</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-08-11T11:52:04.167Z
Ah ha! "but only to indicate or emphasize a thing". So it is a "drum roll" after all! I sure wish Wikipedia would list this usage. Thanks!
Dan Jacobson
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-08-11T11:55:28.887Z
It seems that there is no way to translate this delicate emphasis to English without going overboard: "that Mr. Tong" (sounds like a misbehaving child.)
Dan Jacobson
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-08-10T17:33:55.367Z
2024-08-10T17:33:55.367Z
PdotWang
<p>那個 (that) before a noun indicates &quot;there's a distance between you and the object&quot;</p>
<p>您是不是童先生派的? (implies you are familiar with Mr. Tong)</p>
<p>您是不是那個童先生派的? (implies you are not familiar with Mr. Tong)</p>
<p>If you know Mr. Tong, you wouldn't say &quot;That Mr. Tong&quot;</p>
<p>Another example:</p>
<p>你聽過2025計劃嗎？ (Have you heard of Project 2025?)</p>
<p>你聽過那個2025計劃嗎？(Have you heard of that Project 2025?) - you are distancing yourself from Project 2025. Either you don't know much about it or you want to emphasize you are not involved in it. Similarly, saying &quot;That Mr, Tong&quot; puts a distance between you and him. Either you don't know him that much or you are not involved in his activate (if Mr. Tong turned out to be a con man, don't blame me for not warning you)</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-08-11T11:41:16.860Z
Thanks, but I (the speaker) do indeed know Mr. Tong, and certainly do also any workers from his office. So there must be some other reason why I said 那個. (That even though I said it, I just can't put my finger on why.)
Dan Jacobson
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-08-11T14:34:35.487Z
Subconsciously., you are distancing yourself from him, you wouldn't say "that Mr. Tong' if he was your best friend
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-08-10T09:28:34.433Z
2024-08-10T09:41:04.830Z
2024-08-10T09:41:04.830Z
Tang Ho
<p>It's just a that. If there was no 个， we would have 那童先生， that Mr Tong.</p>
<p>那個: that, that one, the one, that man, the man<br />
那個童先生派的<br />
that Tong Mr send de<br />
the one Mr Tong sent?</p>
<p>A: 我是電信局的。<br />
A: I am from the Telecommunications Bureau.<br />
B: 喔，您是不是那個童先生派的（人）（吗）？<br />
B: Oh, are you the man who Mr Tong was going to send?</p>
<p>那个句子不合语法。<br />
That sentence is not grammatical.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-08-11T11:43:49.973Z
Thanks, but OK, never mind the 個. why did I say "那" in the first place. That's what I'm trying to figure out.
Dan Jacobson
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-08-11T18:07:06.957Z
Oh, well, in English you probably would not say, "Are you man Mr Tong was going to send?" You would introduce a 'the' as a specifier. That is what 那 does here.
Pedroski
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-08-10T09:12:10.010Z
2024-08-10T09:12:10.010Z
Pedroski
<ul>
<li><p>A: 我是電信局的。</p>
</li>
<li><p>B: 喔，您是不是<strong>那個</strong>童先生派的？</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p>&quot;那個&quot; usually means &quot;that&quot;, but, when the object after &quot;那個&quot; is a person, you probably can treat it as a meaningless mantra(口頭禪). Elimination of the word will not confuse the meaning.</p>
<ul>
<li>喔，您是不是(--)童先生派的？- Mr. Tóng must be a unique person known by both A and B, and there is no ambiguity about his identity.</li>
</ul>
<p>If there is more than one Mr. Tóng in the Telecomm Bureau, we can say,</p>
<ul>
<li>喔，您是不是<strong>財務部的那個</strong>童先生派的？- Oh, are you sent by <strong>that</strong> Mr.Tóng, who is with the Finance Dept.?</li>
</ul>
<p>However, the above can be simplified as,</p>
<ul>
<li>喔，您是不是<strong>財務部的</strong>童先生派的？- Oh, are you sent by Mr. Tóng of the Finance Dept?</li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-08-11T11:50:16.393Z
Hmmm, interesting. With animals it seems 那 would even be used more: 你是不是他那隻黑狗咬的？
Dan Jacobson
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-08-11T13:42:12.210Z
@DanJacobson Good example of street-spoken language.
r13
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-08-10T21:35:16.037Z
2024-08-11T00:12:49.477Z
2024-08-11T00:12:49.477Z
r13
<p>What is the exact function of &quot;那個&quot; here?</p>
<pre><code>A: 我是電信局的。
B: 喔，您是不是那個童先生派的？

A: I'm from the Telephone Company.
B: Oh, did (that) Mr. Tong send you?
</code></pre>
<p>I do not find such usage listed on</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_grammar" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_grammar</a></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E9%82%A3%E5%80%8B" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/那個</a></li>
</ul>
<p>My suspicion is that it is an optional &quot;drum roll&quot;:
&quot;Get your ears ready for an important word.&quot;</p>
<p>Is it a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demonstrative" rel="nofollow noreferrer">demonstrative</a>?</p>
<p>But the sentence would be just a good without 那個，
just a little more formal, though.</p>
<p>And the two speakers are standing on a hill, far away from the telephone company office where any this Mr. Tong or that Mr. Tong may be.</p>
<p>And it's not the &quot;give me more time to think&quot; use of 那個, or is it? But I'm certain the speaker was not grasping for words at the time... (because the speaker was me!)</p>
<p>I do note this kind of usage only occurs before nouns, not verbs, etc.</p>

<grammar><meaning><pronouns>
Pure emphasis use of 那個?
# Pure emphasis use of 那個?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2024-08-10)

What is the exact function of "那個" here?

```
A: 我是電信局的。
B: 喔，您是不是那個童先生派的？

A: I'm from the Telephone Company.
B: Oh, did (that) Mr. Tong send you?

```

I do not find such usage listed on

* <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_grammar>
* [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/那個](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E9%82%A3%E5%80%8B)

My suspicion is that it is an optional "drum roll":
"Get your ears ready for an important word."

Is it a [demonstrative](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demonstrative)?

But the sentence would be just a good without 那個，
just a little more formal, though.

And the two speakers are standing on a hill, far away from the telephone company office where any this Mr. Tong or that Mr. Tong may be.

And it's not the "give me more time to think" use of 那個, or is it? But I'm certain the speaker was not grasping for words at the time... (because the speaker was me!)

I do note this kind of usage only occurs before nouns, not verbs, etc.

**Tags:** grammar, meaning, pronouns


---

## 4 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2024-08-10. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

In Chinese, 这 (zhe4, zhei4) (这个 这些) and 那 (na4, nei4) (那个 那些) are used very often. They are similar to the English demonstrative pronouns and demonstrative adjectives (this, that, these, those). Sometimes they are just used with minimal meanings but only to indicate or emphasize a thing, similar to the definitive article (the).

The difference between 这 and 那 is in the distance or scope in a physical or nonphysical measurement. For example,

(1) A: 电信局童主任派我来检查设备。B: **这**位童主任办事真讲效率。我昨天刚刚给他打过电话。（童主任 is already in the dialogue scope mentioned by A.)

(2) A: 电信局派我来检查设备。B: 是**那**位童主任派你来的吗？他办事真讲效率。我昨天刚刚给他打过电话。（童主任 is not in the dialogue scope yet. It is first mentioned by B.)

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Ah ha! "but only to indicate or emphasize a thing". So it is a "drum roll" after all! I sure wish Wikipedia would list this usage. Thanks!  
> **username_0**: It seems that there is no way to translate this delicate emphasis to English without going overboard: "that Mr. Tong" (sounds like a misbehaving child.)  

---

### Answer by username_2 on 2024-08-10. Score: 3

那個 (that) before a noun indicates "there's a distance between you and the object"

您是不是童先生派的? (implies you are familiar with Mr. Tong)

您是不是那個童先生派的? (implies you are not familiar with Mr. Tong)

If you know Mr. Tong, you wouldn't say "That Mr. Tong"

Another example:

你聽過2025計劃嗎？ (Have you heard of Project 2025?)

你聽過那個2025計劃嗎？(Have you heard of that Project 2025?) - you are distancing yourself from Project 2025. Either you don't know much about it or you want to emphasize you are not involved in it. Similarly, saying "That Mr, Tong" puts a distance between you and him. Either you don't know him that much or you are not involved in his activate (if Mr. Tong turned out to be a con man, don't blame me for not warning you)

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Thanks, but I (the speaker) do indeed know Mr. Tong, and certainly do also any workers from his office. So there must be some other reason why I said 那個. (That even though I said it, I just can't put my finger on why.)  
> **username_2**: Subconsciously., you are distancing yourself from him, you wouldn't say "that Mr. Tong' if he was your best friend  

---

### Answer by username_3 on 2024-08-10. Score: 0

It's just a that. If there was no 个， we would have 那童先生， that Mr Tong.

那個: that, that one, the one, that man, the man  
那個童先生派的  
that Tong Mr send de  
the one Mr Tong sent?

A: 我是電信局的。  
A: I am from the Telecommunications Bureau.  
B: 喔，您是不是那個童先生派的（人）（吗）？  
B: Oh, are you the man who Mr Tong was going to send?

那个句子不合语法。  
That sentence is not grammatical.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Thanks, but OK, never mind the 個. why did I say "那" in the first place. That's what I'm trying to figure out.  
> **username_3**: Oh, well, in English you probably would not say, "Are you man Mr Tong was going to send?" You would introduce a 'the' as a specifier. That is what 那 does here.  

---

### Answer by username_4 on 2024-08-10. Score: 0

* A: 我是電信局的。
* B: 喔，您是不是**那個**童先生派的？

"那個" usually means "that", but, when the object after "那個" is a person, you probably can treat it as a meaningless mantra(口頭禪). Elimination of the word will not confuse the meaning.

* 喔，您是不是(--)童先生派的？- Mr. Tóng must be a unique person known by both A and B, and there is no ambiguity about his identity.

If there is more than one Mr. Tóng in the Telecomm Bureau, we can say,

* 喔，您是不是**財務部的那個**童先生派的？- Oh, are you sent by **that** Mr.Tóng, who is with the Finance Dept.?

However, the above can be simplified as,

* 喔，您是不是**財務部的**童先生派的？- Oh, are you sent by Mr. Tóng of the Finance Dept?

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Hmmm, interesting. With animals it seems 那 would even be used more: 你是不是他那隻黑狗咬的？  
> **username_4**: @username_0 Good example of street-spoken language.  

---

