Here is a short video to introduce this infographic…

Conjunction 那/那么 (nà/nàme)  so…, / in that case…, / then…

那/那么 is a conjunction that we use to express a suggestion, a result, or a decision from a previous situation. It is like “so…”, “in that case…”, or “then…” in English.

Knowing how to use this conjunction correctly is important. Once you become more advanced in Chinese, a required skill is storytelling. A good storyteller can choose the appropriate conjunction and make the paragraph and story outstanding.  

Basic sentence structure

• Situation + 那/那么 + Suggestion/Result/Decision

Example 1,

Situation: Mom is tired today.

Decision: They decide to go out to eat. (So mom doesn’t need to cook.)

The sentence structure is,

Mom is tired today (Situation) + 那/那么 + let’s go out to eat! (Decision)

妈妈今天很累，那我们出去吃饭吧！

(Māmā jīntiān hěn lèi, nà wǒmen chūqù chīfàn ba!)

Example 2,

Situation: You said you don’t want to see a movie today. (not in the mood…)

Answer: So, what do you want to do?

The sentence structure is,

You said you don’t want to see a movie today (Situation) + 那/那么 + what do you want to do? (Answer)

你说你今天不想看电影，那么你想做什么？

(Nǐ shuō nǐ jīntiān bùxiǎng kàn diànyǐng, nàme nǐ xiǎng zuò shénme?）

Example 3,

Situation: My cell phone is broken.

Suggestion: Get a new one!

The sentence structure is,

My cell phone is broken (Situation) + 那/那么 + get a new one! (Suggestion)

A: 我的手机坏了。(A: Wǒ de shǒujī huàile.)

B: 那就买新的吧！(B: then get a new one!)

Example 4,

Situation: It is nice today.

Suggestion: Let’s go to the park and play!

The sentence structure is,

It is nice today + 那/那么 + let’s go to the park and play! (Suggestion)

孩子: 今天天气很好。(Háizi: Jīntiān tiānqì hěn hǎo.)

妈妈: 那我们去公园玩吧！(Māmā: Nà wǒmen qù gōngyuán wán ba!)

Use the “can-do” list to check if you learned this grammar.

Can-do checklist:

⃞    I can understand when to use the conjunction 那/那么.

⃞    I can write the conjunction 那/那么 in Chinese characters and/or in pinyin.

⃞    I can place the conjunction 那/那么 correctly in a sentence.

Simplified Chinese Version

Traditional Chinese Version