SPecIFIerS And deMOnSTrATIveS
7.4
When they are not the subject, 这儿/這兒 zhèr ‘here’ and 那儿/那兒 nàr ‘there’ must be
preceded by the location preposition 在 zài ‘at.’
我在这儿工作。
我在這兒工作。
Wǒ zài zhèr gōngzuò.
I work here.
我在那儿买东西。
我在那兒買東西。
Wǒ zài nàr mǎi dōngxi.
I shop there.
C 14
People cannot serve as location nouns. To make a person into a location, follow it with a loca-
tion specifier.
请到我这儿来。
請到我這兒來。
Qǐng dào wǒ zhèr lái.
Please come to me. [to my location]
我们今天晚上去小王那儿吃饭。
我們今天晚上去小王那兒吃飯。
Wǒmen jīntiān wǎnshang qù Xiǎo Wáng nàr chī fàn.
Tonight we’ll go to Xiao Wang’s to eat.
7.4 Question words that correspond to specifiers
- 哪 nǎ/něi ‘which?’ is the question word that corresponds to the specifier 那 nà.
Question Answer
你要哪本书？ (我要)那本(书)。
你要哪本書？ (我要)那本(書)。
Nǐ yào nǎ běn shū? (Wǒ yào) nà běn (shū).
Which book do you want? (I want) that (book).
(lit. ‘You want which book?’)
- 哪儿/哪兒 nǎr ‘where?’ is the question word that corresponds to the location words
这儿/這兒 zhèr ‘here’ and 那儿/那兒 nàr ‘there.’
Question Answer
哪儿有书店？ 那儿有书店。
哪兒有書店？ 那兒有書店。
Nǎr yǒu shūdiàn? Nàr yǒu shūdiàn.
Where is there a bookstore? There is a bookstore there.
你在哪里工作？ 我在这里工作。
你在哪裏工作？ 我在這裏工作。
Nǐ zài nǎlǐ gōngzuò? Wǒ zài zhèlǐ gōngzuò.
Where do you work? I work here.
C28.6
