那些
How to Understand
那 (nà) means 'that' and 些 (xiē) is a classifier used to indicate plural or indefinite quantity. Together, 那些 (nàxiē) translates to 'those' in English, used to refer to plural nouns that are not close to the speaker.
The character 那 (nà) comes from the ancient Chinese word for 'that,' indicating something distant in space or time. 些 (xiē) is a measure word that often appears with pronouns or adjectives to denote an unspecified number of things. Combined, they form a demonstrative pronoun meaning 'those.'
Those is commonly used in everyday speech to point out a group of people or things that are not present or near the speaker. For example, in a conversation about past events or objects seen earlier, you might say, '那些书在桌子上。' (Nàxiē shū zài zhuōzi shàng.) 'Those books are on the table.' It is also used in writing and formal contexts to maintain clarity and specificity.