Understanding “Nei Ge” – A Simple Explanation of the Controversial “N-word” in Chinese

“What did you say?”

“Nei ge…”

If you’re reading this article, chances are that you’ve heard the word ‘nei ge’ – perhaps multiple times – when you hung out with Chinese people or when you passed them by. You cringed, of course, and wondered what the heck is wrong with these people. After all, it sounds an awful lot like the N-word in English, isn’t it?

Truth is: though most Mandarin speakers don’t even notice – ‘nei ge’ is one of the most commonly said words in the Chinese language. So, what on earth does the word ‘nei ge’ mean? Is it in any way connected to the notorious English racial slur? Or it’s just another innocuous coincidence?

In this article, we’ll lift the veil for you by clarifying the meaning and use of ‘nei ge” in Chinese and tell you why the word should not be labeled racist. Later on, we’ll teach you how to slip “nei ge” naturally into your Chinese conversation so that you’ll sound like a native when you speak.

Shall we begin?

What Does ‘Nei Ge’ Mean in Chinese?

‘Nei ge’, or more precisely – ‘nèi ge’ is the Pinyin romanization/pronunciation for the Chinese word ‘那个’, which literally means ‘that one’ but is usually translated to ‘that’. In spoken Chinese, ‘nèi ge’ is widely used as a filler word during pauses, similar to how words like ‘um’, ‘uh’, ‘well’, and ‘you know’ act in English.

People in China have been using ‘nèi ge’ in daily speech for thousands of years. This word has absolutely nothing to do with the English N-word, nor does it have any racist connotation whatsoever.

‘那个’ Pronunciation: ‘nèi ge’ or ‘nà ge’?

Wait, isn’t the Chinese word for ‘that’ – ‘那个’ pronounced ‘nà ge’?

Let me guess, you’ve done a couple of Chinese lessons, and you’ve been taught that ‘那个’ is pronounced ‘nà ge’ in standard Mandarin.

Yes. If you look up the word in a dictionary, you’ll find that it indeed says ‘nà ge’. However, in real life, numerous native speakers pronounce the word as ‘nèi ge’ instead.

“How come?”, you ask.

Well, the word ‘那个 (nà ge)’ is essentially the short version of ‘那一个 (nà yí ge)’, which means ‘that one (thing)’ in Chinese (the numeral ‘one’ – ‘一(yī)’ can be omitted when it’s used directly before a measure word). And if you say the full version – ‘那一个 (nà yí ge)’ really fast, it’ll start to sound like ‘nèi ge’ in no time (voila!) Hence, both ‘nà ge’ and ‘nèi ge’ are widely used by native speakers when referring to ‘that’. The two versions can be randomly heard in daily conversation, at times alternating in the speech of the same person. (To be fair, ‘nèi ge’ is a bit more common in colloquial Chinese).

In case you’re wondering which pronunciation is considered to be more proper – ‘nèi ge’ or ‘nà ge’, or which one you should use, here’s my two cents:

Stick to the one that you already feel comfortable with.

Truth is: both ‘nèi ge’ and ‘nà ge’ are proper standard Mandarin. It doesn’t matter which pronunciation you adopt. It can just be a matter of personal preference or habit. (That said, you might want to be careful using ‘nèi ge’ next to people who don’t know any Chinese, within the social context of certain countries).

How to Use ‘Nèi Ge’ in Chinese?

Okay, we’ve solved the myth of ‘nèi ge’. Now let’s look at the different ways you can use the word in Chinese like a native speaker.

1. Use ‘Nèi Ge’ to Say ‘That’

The fundamental meaning of ‘nèi ge’ is ‘that’ or ‘that one’, so you can just use this word as a regular demonstrative pronoun in Chinese.

For example,

• 我要那个。
  Wǒ yào nèi ge.
  I’d like that one.

• 那个是什么？
  Nèi ge shì shénme?
  What’s that?

• 那个人是我的朋友。
  Nèi ge rén shì wǒ de péngyou. 
  That guy is my friend.

You can pronounce 那 as ‘nèi ’ in all our examples. Just make sure you use the correct measure word after 那 when you talk about different things. (Not sure how? Read here)

Examples:

• 我喜欢那只猫。
  Wǒ xǐhuan nèi zhī māo.
  I like that cat.

• 那本书是我的。
  Nèi běn shū shì wǒ de.
  That book is mine.

• 那双鞋多少钱？
  Nèi shuāng xié duōshǎo qián?
  How much is that pair of shoes?

Now, here’s the interesting part…

Just as 那个 is the condensed form of ‘那一个 (nà yí ge)’ and therefore is commonly pronounced ‘nèi ge’ in spoken Chinese, you can pronounce ‘this’ – ‘这个’ as ‘zhèi ge’, and ‘which’ – ‘哪个’ as ‘něi ge’ in similar fashion.

Simply speed up ‘这一个 (zhè yí ge)’ and ‘哪一个 (nǎ yí ge)’, and you’ll see what I mean.

• 我不要这个。
  Wǒ bú yào zhèi ge.
  I don’t want this one.

• 这辆车非常贵。
  Zhèi liàng chē fēicháng guì.
  This car is very expensive.

• 你更喜欢哪个？
  Nǐ gèng xǐhuan něi ge?
  Which one do you prefer?

• 哪位是你们的老师？
  Něi wèi shì nǐmen de lǎoshī?
  Which one is your teacher?

2. Use ‘Nèi Ge’ as a Filler Word

Filler words are those seemingly meaningless words that you use to fill the silence when speaking. In Chinese, ‘nèi ge’ is the most common filler word. It might not seem useful, but it’s actually a very important part of sounding natural when you speak the language (native speakers use it all the time without realizing it).  

You can place ‘nèi ge’ just about anywhere in a Chinese sentence. It simply keeps you going while you come up with the rest of your sentence.

For example,

In the middle of a sentence:

• 我想吃炸鸡还有…那个…薯条。
  Wǒ xiǎng chī zhájī, háiyǒu…nèi ge… shǔtiáo.
  I want to eat fried chicken and…uh…french fries.

• 去年我去了美国，加拿大，和…那个…墨西哥。
  Qùnián wǒ qù le Měiguó, Jiānádà, hé… nèi ge… Mòxīgē.
  Last year, I went to America, Canada, and…um…Mexico.

You can say ‘nèi ge’ when you can’t think of the right word to use in Chinese, similar to ‘um’ or ‘uh’ in English. This gains more time for you to think, without an awkward, silent pause.

It may sound funny, but you can even say ‘nèi ge’ repeatedly in one sentence. It wouldn’t be unusual to hear native speakers say ‘我去了美国，加拿大，和…那个那个那个…墨西哥 (wǒ qù le Měiguó, Jiānádà, hé… nèi ge nèi ge nèi ge… Mòxīgē)’.