# 那 / 哪



## indigoduck

Someone asked me what's the difference between these two characters ?

I explained it as such, is this 100% true ?

那。
哪?


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## YangMuye

那:that/what/any
哪:what/any


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## humvee

That depends on context.
Generally speaking
那=that,there
哪=where

那 is also used as an interjection by Taiwanese.


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## Geysere

Your interpretation is correct. 
那 implies certainty, you are refering to something specific: "that one/那个" "there/那里" "at that time/那时" "those ones/那些". 
哪 is used when the speaker is uncertain, e.g. "which?/哪个/哪些" "where?/哪里" 
YangMuye, I'm not sure how "any" and "what" can correspond to "那". Can you give some examples?


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## xiaolijie

> YangMuye, I'm not sure how "any" and "what" can correspond to "那". Can you give some examples?


I also remember having seen 哪 written as 那 (in older writings).


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## Dragonseed

I have been using "那" as "that one over there" (as opposed to "這" : "this one here"), and 哪 for the interrogative "你在哪(兒)?" : "where are you?".

And yes, we Taiwanese (!) use "那" a lot in interjections ("那...你說呢?" - "so... what do you think?")


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## YangMuye

Geysere said:


> Your interpretation is correct.
> 那 implies certainty, you are refering to something specific: "that one/那个" "there/那里" "at that time/那时" "those ones/那些".
> 哪 is used when the speaker is uncertain, e.g. "which?/哪个/哪些" "where?/哪里"
> YangMuye, I'm not sure how "any" and "what" can correspond to "那". Can you give some examples?



那 generally refers to the thing you have mentioned before, e.g. 那個 那人 那事 那時 那里, 那 itself does not mean there. In standard mandarin, you have to say nar那儿/na'er那儿/nali那里.
哪 is derived from 那, so 那 also shares the meaning of 哪. In mainland China, 哪 is preferred.
In Chinese, you can use 哪 to express "that" or "some" in affirmative sentence, "any" in negative sentence.
For example:

他哪里也不去。
He will not go anywhere.
他去哪里了？
Where did he go.
他去哪里了嗎？
Did he go anywhere.
他可能去了哪里。
He might be somewhere.


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## indigoduck

YangMuye said:


> 那 generally refers to the thing you have mentioned before, e.g. 那個 那人 那事 那時 那里, 那 itself does not mean there. In standard mandarin, you have to say nar那儿/na'er那儿/nali那里.
> 哪 is derived from 那, so 那 also shares the meaning of 哪. In mainland China, 哪 is preferred.
> In Chinese, you can use 哪 to express "that" or "some" in affirmative sentence, "any" in negative sentence.
> For example:
> 
> 他哪里也不去。
> He will not go anywhere.
> 他去哪里了？
> Where did he go.
> 他去哪里了嗎？
> Did he go anywhere.
> 他可能去了哪里。
> He might be somewhere.


 
Geysere confirmed what i was looking for.  But your examples opened up a new pandora box that i didn't consider.

Thanks!


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## yuechu

大家好！

I recently was reading the following and thought that the two "那" should have been "哪":
"有人說，能力和學歷才是好工作的敲門磚，情商和智商才是好職位的守護神，
但其實無論在*那*行*那*業，都不缺高手。"

Is it correct to use 那 here instead of 哪？If it is, should it still be pronounced nǎ?
Thanks!


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## Unicode

yuechu said:


> 大家好！
> 
> I recently was reading the following and thought that the two "那" should have been "哪":
> "有人說，能力和學歷才是好工作的敲門磚，情商和智商才是好職位的守護神，
> 但其實無論在*那*行*那*業，都不缺高手。"
> 
> Is it correct to use 那 here instead of 哪？If it is, should it still be pronounced nǎ?
> Thanks!


I think that *那 *here is a wrong usage, and you should still use *哪* in the phrase and pronounce *nǎ*.
*哪行哪業* can also be replaced more easily with *哪个 行業 *, which means *which/ what industry*.  So the sentence you mentioned "但其實無論在*那（哪）*行*那（哪）*業，都不缺高手" can be translated to “But in fact, no matter what industry you are in, there is no shortage of masters”. 
btw, I think the logic of the whole sentence you read is strange.**


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## yuechu

Hi, Unicode!
Thanks for your reply and your confirmation of how to pronounce and write 哪 here!



Unicode said:


> btw, I think the logic of the whole sentence you read is strange.


Oh, is it a 病句？What is strange about it? (if you don't mind me asking) Do you think it sounds like it's a translated sentence?


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## Unicode

yuechu said:


> Hi, Unicode!
> Thanks for your reply and your confirmation of how to pronounce and write 哪 here!
> 
> 
> Oh, is it a 病句？What is strange about it? (if you don't mind me asking) Do you think it sounds like it's a translated sentence?


1. Well, I think there are two kinds of 病句 (wrong sentences), one with grammatical errors and the other with logical errors, and it belongs to the latter.

2. I don't know if you know the meaning of that sentence. Just translate it by google:
_[ Some people say that ability and education are the stepping stones to a good job, and EQ and IQ are the patron saints of a good job. But in fact, no matter what industry you are in, there is no shortage of masters. ]_
I just think the first half of this sentence and the second half of this sentence are about two things, there is no turning point.

3. I don't think so, the sentence is quite smooth and nature to read, no grammar error. But maybe translated sentence can also do that.


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## yuechu

Oh, I wasn't 100% sure of what the sentence meant. Thanks again, Unicode!


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## Skatinginbc

yuechu said:


> Is it correct to use 那 here instead of 哪？If it is, should it still be pronounced nǎ?


Yes, it is correct (although not preferred).
In this case,「那」(něi)) 表示疑問。通「哪」(něi)。為「那（nǎ）一」的合音轉讀。如：「王維是那(něi)朝代的人？」(see 國語辭典).


Unicode said:


> I just think the first half of this sentence and the second half of this sentence are about two things.


Some people say "能力和學歷才是好工作的敲門磚", but the speaker doesn't agree because "無論在哪一行哪一業，都不缺高手".  In order to succeed, one needs more than 能力和學歷 (e.g., 人緣和關係).


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## yuechu

好的。謝謝，Skatinginbc!


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## SuperXW

Skatinginbc said:


> Yes, it is correct (although not preferred).
> In this case,「那」(něi)) 表示疑問。通「哪」(něi)。為「那（nǎ）一」的合音轉讀。如：「王維是那(něi)朝代的人？」(see 國語辭典).


Traditionally, 那 can be used as an alternative of 哪. 
However, in Mainland China, this usage has been canceled for minimizing confusion. Mainlanders will consider it wrong.


yuechu said:


> Oh, is it a 病句？What is strange about it? (if you don't mind me asking) Do you think it sounds like it's a translated sentence?


It doesn't make it a 病句 just because we don't understand or disagree the logic. Context is crucial. Skating has given a highly possible explanation.


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## Unicode

Skatinginbc said:


> Yes, it is correct (although not preferred).
> In this case,「那」(něi)) 表示疑問。通「哪」(něi)。為「那（nǎ）一」的合音轉讀。如：「王維是那(něi)朝代的人？」(see 國語辭典).
> 
> Some people say "能力和學歷才是好工作的敲門磚", but the speaker doesn't agree because "無論在哪一行哪一業，都不缺高手".  In order to succeed, one needs more than 能力和學歷 (e.g., 人緣和關係).


1. Thanks for your sharing. Sorry I don't know the difference between Taiwan and mainland's Mandarin. There is no such usage in mainland now.
2. I understand and agree with your explanation of the meaning of this sentence, I just think it's still a bit far-fetched. Because the fact that there are masters in all industries does not mean that they don't have 能力, 學歷, 情商(EQ) and 智商(IQ). I thought there is no contradiction between them. And you ignored the 情商 and 智商 it mentioned, which can explain many qualities. Can 人緣和關係 be an embodiment of EQ? Anyway, this question actually doesn't matter, if there are more contexts it could be explained better. No offense~



SuperXW said:


> Traditionally, 那 can be used as an alternative of 哪.
> However, in Mainland China, this usage has been canceled for minimizing confusion. Mainlanders will consider it wrong.
> 
> It doesn't make it a 病句 just because we don't understand or disagree the logic. Context is crucial. Skating has given a highly possible explanation.


Thanks for your replying. Only focusing on this sentence without context, I thought it's a 病句 because there is no turning relationship before. It is possible to explain that these masters have more important things after this sentence. So I can not define it a 病句 simply. Thanks again.



yuechu said:


> 好的。謝謝，Skatinginbc!


Sorry for misleading you. Regarding the explanation and pronunciation of the words, you can check the dictionary to get the most accurate answer. If you are learning mainland's Chinese, I recommend you 漢典(e.g., see 漢典“那”字的解释, you can also find 國語辭典 there). Otherwise, I think 國語辭典 is enough.


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## LukeAnakinSkywalker

那 can be used both as a demonstrative and as as an interrogative, i.e. in a question, according to my dog-eared copy of 遠東漢英辭典 (Far East Chinese-English Dictionary). That's also what I've seen in Traditional Chinese writing. The distinction others are making between 哪 and 那 must be a mainland thing.


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