# Chinese Translation Question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 21, 2019, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-translation-question/829948 "2019-02-21T07:42:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![yearofglad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/b782af/32.png) [@yearofglad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yearofglad)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2019, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-translation-question/829948/1 "2019-02-21T07:42:56Z")
Inspired (and reminded) by the couple Chinese translation questions on here: I play badminton with a group of Chinese speakers (please don’t derail this thread into one about dialects, Mandarin, etc.) - the best I can say is that they speak Chinese. And they frequently use a word that sounds like, well, the N-word in English. I can’t describe it any better than that, other than to reinforce that it is a word they use frequently. (I suppose it could be two separate words that are frequently said one after the other, but it sounds like a single word to my ears.) It’s a little awkward to ask them what that particular word means, so I figured I’d ask on here. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2019, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-translation-question/829948/2 "2019-02-21T07:50:01Z")
IIRC it’s a common function word - ‘which’ or ‘where’ or some boring word like that. One of those words that slides out of your mind five minutes after you’ve heard it. I’ve gotten my Mandarin-studying daughter to tell me like five times and I keep forgetting what the answer was… ---
**Author:** ![mikecurtis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikecurtis/32/3284_2.png) [@mikecurtis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikecurtis)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2019, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-translation-question/829948/3 "2019-02-21T08:12:16Z")
[In Chinese](http://www.alanpaulinchina.com/2010/12/nega-please.html?m=1) > [@](#): > > “Nega” means “that” but it is really commonly used. In conversation when stalling or finding your place, you can say “nega, nega” the way in English someone would go “like” or “um.” It is probably the most used word in Chinese along with “jigga” which means “this.” [In Korean](http://learnkoreanwithlily.blogspot.com/2012/11/korean-people-use-n-word-all-time.html) > [@](#): > > There are two. 내가 and 니가 내가(Nega) means ‘I’ when you are emphasizing ‘I’ in the sentence. 니가(Niga) means ‘YOU’ when you are emphasizing ‘You’ in the sentence. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2019, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-translation-question/829948/4 "2019-02-21T08:34:46Z")
那个 (nèige in pinyin) Literally “that (one)”, but as other have said it’s an extremely common common filler word > **[The filler word "neige" - Chinese Grammar Wiki](https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/The_filler_word_%22neige%22)** > > This grammar point is used for Connecting ideas in Mandarin Chinese. Get clear explanations and lots of examples here! ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2019, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-translation-question/829948/5 "2019-02-21T08:39:37Z")
Here’s a youtube video dedicated to it: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/wTk2WkRMLzg/hqdefault.jpg "The "N" Word in Mandarin Chinese 那个 Niggaa") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTk2WkRMLzg) ---
**Author:** ![Corry\_El](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecae2f/32.png) [@Corry\_El](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corry_El)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2019, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-translation-question/829948/6 "2019-02-21T14:43:17Z")
> [@mikecurtis](#): > > There are two. 내가 and 니가 내가(Nega) means ‘I’ when you are emphasizing ‘I’ in the sentence. 니가(Niga) means ‘YOU’ when you are emphasizing ‘You’ in the sentence. 니 (ni) is a slangish pronunciation of 네 (neh); 네 and 너 being the dictionary words for the informal ‘you’ (‘dang shin’ is the polite form you see in phrase books). Also in a politically incorrect joke ‘your thing’ (네것 technically neh-guht but the ‘t’ is nearly silent) is misunderstood that way. ---
**Author:** ![yearofglad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/b782af/32.png) [@yearofglad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yearofglad)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2019, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-translation-question/829948/7 "2019-02-21T14:53:51Z")
Thanks all. Asked and answered. Appreciate it.