# 这一天 / 这天



## macrotis

Can I make a guess that there's the expression 这一天 meaning "today" and 一 being optional?


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## SuperXW

macrotis said:


> Thank you. Can I make a guess that there's the expression 这一天 meaning "today" and 一 being optional?


You are basically right. 这天=这一天, but a more proper translation would be "this day" (could mean some day in the past). "Today" = 今天.


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## xiaolijie

I'm sure 这天 exists, and I'm interested to know the difference between 这天 and 这一天.

Edit: SuperXW, you're very fast.  Can you elaborate the difference between 这天 and 这一天?


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## SuperXW

xiaolijie said:


> I'm sure 这天 exists, and I'm interested to know the difference between 这天 and 这一天.


I don't think there is any difference, is there?


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## halfflah

SuperXW said:


> I don't think there is any difference, is there?


As far as I know there's no difference... I think about 这一个 这个 那一个 那个...
Although I am pretty sure I never say 那天 or 这天... only 那一天和这一天。。。


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## SuperXW

halfflah said:


> Although I am pretty sure I never say 那天 or 这天... only 那一天和这一天。。。


Why not...?


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## halfflah

SuperXW said:


> Why not...?


Maybe it's just accent?  I always thought that my pronunciations "neige" and "zheige" were contractions but now I'm rethinking...


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## SuperXW

halfflah said:


> Maybe it's just accent? I always thought that my pronunciations "neige" and "zheige" were contractions but now I'm rethinking...


 Haha! zheige/neige could be from the contractions, but think about 这zhei人...那nei人... 这zhei里...那nei里...


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## halfflah

SuperXW said:


> Haha! zheige/neige could be from the contractions, but think about 这zhei人...那nei人... 这zhei里...那nei里...


Bah! Hahaha touché!


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## xiaolijie

I believe that (那天 and 这天) with and without 一 are _interchangeable sometimes _but _there are also times when they are different_. We sometimes hear songs with names like "那天" and "这天", but not "那一天 and 这一天. Think about it: there must be a reason for it to be this way.


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## SuperXW

xiaolijie said:


> I believe that (那天 and 这天) with and without 一 are _interchangeable sometimes _but _there are also times when they are different_. We sometimes hear songs with names like "那天" and "这天", but not "那一天 and 这一天. Think about it: there must be a reason for it to be this way.


Do you have any example in where you think 那天 and 那一天 are not interchangeable? I know a lot of songs have 那一天 in their titles/lyrics...


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## xiaolijie

Hi SuperXW,
My post above was more of a question than an answer , and I really want to hear from native speakers. But anyway, on the rare occasions when I think the two differ, with 那一天 one seems to talk about a particular day whereas one uses 那天 only as a point of time (when something happens):

遇见你是*那一天*最快乐的事
*那天* 发现了喜悦 

Just an impression


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## SuperXW

As a native speaker, I think they are always interchangeable. You can argue that 这一天/那一天 slightly emphasizes the meaning of "the day". It's simply because it's longer, taking more proportion. But it won't be a major problem if you replace them with 这天/那天.
e.g. 遇见你是那天最快乐的事 那一天发现了喜悦 
Which one you'll choose would be a question of elegancy, but not of grammar.


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## BODYholic

xiaolijie said:


> with 那一天 one seems to talk about a particular day whereas one uses 那天 only as a point of time (when something happens)



I kinda agree with you on this. For example, I would say "*那天*和你说的话，你千万别告诉别人。". Not that one can't say "*那一天*和你说的话，你千万别告诉别人。", it's not wrong but it doesn't seem idiomatic to me.

These are some situations which I won't use "*那一天*". 

*那天*借你的钱，你到底几时会还我？
*那天*我很忙，没空招待你，请见谅。
A:"拜六要一起去看戏吗？", B:"不了。*那天*我已经有约了。"


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## SuperXW

BODYholic said:


> I kinda agree with you on this. For example, I would say "*那天*和你说的话，你千万别告诉别人。". Not that one can't say "*那一天*和你说的话，你千万别告诉别人。", it's not wrong but it doesn't seem idiomatic to me.
> 
> These are some situations which I won't use "*那一天*".
> 
> *那天*借你的钱，你到底几时会还我？
> *那天*我很忙，没空招待你，请见谅。
> A:"拜六要一起去看戏吗？", B:"不了。*那天*我已经有约了。"


Yes.  In these examples, saying 那一天 will sound strange. Not because it's wrong, but because it's unnecessary.
In songs and literature though, 那一天 would be more common.

By the way, some words in your sentences are Cantonese usages (i.e. 几时, 拜六, 看戏), but other words are not. This would cause a strange feeling of inconsistency in some other speakers' eyes, especially for those who don't know Cantonese.


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## BODYholic

SuperXW said:


> By the way, some words in your sentences are Cantonese usages (i.e. 几时, 拜六, 看戏), but other words are not. This would cause a strange feeling of inconsistency in some other speakers' eyes, especially for those who don't know Cantonese.



I've to say that those words are not Cantonese usages.

几时, 看戏 - Both words can be found in reputable dictionaries.
拜六 is how we, Singaporeans, say 'Saturday' colloquially. We do understand 星期六 but rarely people (Singapore peoples, I mean) use it in day-to-day conversation.
Hope this clears your doubts.


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## SuperXW

BODYholic said:


> I've to say that those words are not Cantonese usages.
> 
> 几时, 看戏 - Both words can be found in reputable dictionaries.
> 拜六 is how we, Singaporeans, say 'Saturday' colloquially. We do understand 星期六 but rarely people (Singapore peoples, I mean) use it in day-to-day conversation.
> Hope this clears your doubts.



I see. The words you are using have a decent Chinese origin, not only a Cantonese origin. But in today's mainland China, a Putonghua speaker won't talk like that, and the words won't meet PRC's standard of spoken Chinese. You can't find a mainland dictionary using 几时 in any example for a contemporary conversation. This style, though, remains popular in Cantonese and maybe in oversea Chinese's languages.  
In the mainland, for 几时 we say 什么时候. By 看戏, I suppose you meant "to watch a movie", but not "to watch an opera". In this case, we say "看电影". We do say 礼拜六, but never 拜六.
I hope you won't feel offended. The reason I want to clarify these is because that many Chinese learners are here, also I'd like to have a intercultural communitaion. I think it's better to distinguish the differences we have. It definitely doesn't mean my standard is superior or something. It's a good thing to know how Singapore Chinese speak.


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## xiaolijie

It has been very useful so far to have a glimpse of the different usage between regions; but so that we don't risk straying off-topic, I suggest us to return to 这天 and 这一天, if there's anything else relevant we need to add


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## jeffyyko

At the meaning of two words which is the same 
But here is a bit of difference at usage in some context.

some examples have been listed at floor #14 .


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## renranyanyu

这一天 不早了 该睡觉了！呵呵


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## kong.zhong

I never heard 这天。


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## SuperXW

Alright, since renranyanyu has inspired me, I should also make such sentences where 这天 and 这一天 are apparently not interchangeable...
*这一天*够忙的！ -*Such a day*, busy enough!
*这天*够热的！ -*This weather*, hot enough!

To kong.zhong, please see my post#8. My point is that zhei4, nei4 are just accents of 这, 那, not contractions of 这一, 那一. If you write them down, 一 should not be written.


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## kong.zhong

I never heard 这天。but 那天 is Ok.


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## SuperXW

kong.zhong said:


> I never heard 这天。but 那天 is Ok.


Baidu it, you get "相关结果约100,000,000个". As a Chinese you declared you "never heard" of it. I don't know what to say.


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## xiaolijie

kong.zhong said:


> I never heard 这天。but 那天 is Ok.


When I searched Google, I found the song 这天 (You try, and tell us if the lyrics makes sense, kong.zhong!). There's also a song with the name 那天, which is one of my favorites


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## kong.zhong

Hi, Xiaolijie
I googled the song, and got the lyric. there are two sentences that are 请让我在你身边 一起纪念这一天 and 你笑了 我笑了 笑了 这一天。is it the one that you said?
but there is not 这天 in the lyric.
There is no problem with 这天 in grammar, but 这一天，那天，那一天 is used more often instead of 这天。


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## xiaolijie

Yes, that is the song 

For the use 这天, you can see loads of its examples here:
http://www.jukuu.com/show-这天-0.html


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## SuperXW

搜索时用英文引号括住"这天"，就不会连"这一天"一起搜。你还可以用减号来排除特定词组。

"魔镜歌词网"的不完全统计：
歌名包含"这天"：http://mojim.com/這天.html?t3
歌名包含"这一天"：http://mojim.com/這一天.html?t3


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