Once you are comfortable with instrument 用, you will start hearing its casual cousin 拿 (ná) all over spoken Chinese. 拿 is first of all a plain verb — "to take, to hold, to pick up" — and that concrete hand image is exactly what it brings to its coverb uses. Where 用 is neutral and works for anything (tools, languages, methods), 拿 feels like you are physically grabbing the means and doing something with it, so it stays colloquial and clusters in a handful of fixed frames. Learning 拿 is less about a single rule than about recognising those frames — 拿…当…, 拿…来说, 拿…没办法, 拿…开玩笑 — and knowing when not to reach for it.
拿 as a concrete, casual instrument
In its coverb role, 拿 marks a tangible thing you take in hand to accomplish something — most naturally money or a physical object. 拿钱买东西 ("take money and buy things") is idiomatic; the means is something you literally hold.
他拿钱买了一堆没用的东西。
tā ná qián mǎi le yì duī méi yòng de dōngxi
He blew his money on a pile of useless stuff. (informal) — 拿钱买, holding the money to spend it.
别拿脏手摸眼睛。
bié ná zāng shǒu mō yǎnjing
Don't touch your eyes with dirty hands. (informal) — concrete, hands-on instrument: 拿.
Crucially, 拿 is not a full replacement for 用. You take a tool in hand, but you cannot "hold" a language or a payment app — so it is 用中文写 (write in Chinese) and 用微信付 (pay by WeChat), never 拿中文 or 拿微信. Reserve instrument 拿 for physical, held means; default to 用 everywhere else.
The set frames: 拿…当…, 拿…来说, 拿…没办法
This is where 拿 truly earns its keep. Four high-frequency patterns are built on it, and native speakers use them constantly.
| Frame | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 拿 X 当 Y | treat / regard X as Y | 别拿我当小孩 (don't treat me like a kid) |
| 拿 X 来说 | take X for instance | 拿他来说 (take him for example) |
| 拿 X 没办法 | be helpless about X | 我拿他没办法 (I can't do anything about him) |
| 拿 X 开玩笑 | make fun of / joke about X | 别拿这事开玩笑 (don't joke about this) |
拿…当… ("treat X as Y") pairs 拿 with 当 (dàng, "regard as"). It is the everyday, spoken equivalent of the more neutral 把…当作 or 把…看成.
你别拿我当外人。
nǐ bié ná wǒ dàng wàirén
Don't treat me like an outsider. (informal) — 拿…当… 'treat as'.
他一直拿你当最好的朋友。
tā yìzhí ná nǐ dàng zuì hǎo de péngyou
He's always regarded you as his best friend. (informal) — 拿…当… again.
拿…来说 ("take X for instance") is a discourse frame for introducing an example — see the take-for-example page for the wider family of "for instance" openers.
拿我来说，我每天都要喝咖啡。
ná wǒ lái shuō, wǒ měi tiān dōu yào hē kāfēi
Take me, for example — I have to drink coffee every day. (informal) — 拿…来说 sets up the example.
拿…没办法 ("be helpless about X") expresses affectionate exasperation — you have run out of ways to deal with someone or something.
这孩子太调皮了，我真拿他没办法。
zhè háizi tài tiáopí le, wǒ zhēn ná tā méi bànfǎ
This kid is such a handful — I really can't do anything about him. (informal) — the 拿…没办法 idiom.
拿…开玩笑 ("joke about / make fun of") takes the target of the teasing as its object.
这么严肃的事，你别拿它开玩笑。
zhème yánsù de shì, nǐ bié ná tā kāi wánxiào
This is serious — don't make a joke of it. (informal) — 拿…开玩笑.
拿 the plain verb: "take, hold, pick up"
Underneath all this, 拿 is still an ordinary action verb. It means to take something into your hand or carry it — see the verb reference for 拿 for its full range.
帮我拿一下那本书，好吗？
bāng wǒ ná yíxià nà běn shū, hǎo ma?
Could you grab that book for me? (informal) — 拿 as the plain verb 'take/hand'.
Common Mistakes
1. Using 拿 for a language or app you can't physically hold. Instrument 拿 needs a tangible, held means; abstract means take 用.
❌ 我拿中文写日记。
Incorrect — you can't hold a language; use 用中文写.
✅ 我用中文写日记。
wǒ yòng Zhōngwén xiě rìjì
I keep a diary in Chinese. — abstract means: 用.
2. Dropping 当 from the 拿…当… frame. "Treat X as Y" needs both 拿 and 当.
❌ 别拿我小孩。
Incomplete — the 'treat as' frame is 拿…当…: 别拿我当小孩.
✅ 别拿我当小孩。
bié ná wǒ dàng xiǎohái
Don't treat me like a child. — 拿…当… complete.
3. Substituting 用 into the 拿…来说 frame. "For instance" is fixed with 拿, not 用.
❌ 用我来说，我不喜欢喝酒。
Incorrect — the example frame is 拿…来说, not 用…来说.
✅ 拿我来说，我不喜欢喝酒。
ná wǒ lái shuō, wǒ bù xǐhuan hē jiǔ
Take me, for instance — I don't like drinking. — 拿…来说.
4. Scrambling the 拿…没办法 word order. The person or thing goes between 拿 and 没办法.
❌ 我没办法拿他。
Wrong order — the object sits inside the frame: 我拿他没办法.
✅ 我拿他没办法。
wǒ ná tā méi bànfǎ
I can't do anything about him. — 拿 + object + 没办法.
Key Takeaways
- 拿 (ná) is a colloquial, concrete instrument coverb — a held, physical means (拿钱买, 拿脏手摸) — not a general stand-in for 用.
- Abstract means (languages, apps, methods) stay with 用: 用中文写, never 拿中文.
- Its real value is in set frames: 拿…当… (treat as), 拿…来说 (for instance), 拿…没办法 (helpless about), 拿…开玩笑 (joke about).
- Learn those four as fixed chunks — the word order (object inside the frame) is the main trap.
- 拿 is also the everyday verb "to take / hold": 帮我拿一下.
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- 用 (yòng): With / Using (Instrument)HSK 1 — 用 (yòng) marks the tool or method 'with / using', sitting before the main verb: 用筷子吃饭 (eat with chopsticks), 用中文写 (write in Chinese), 用手机付钱 (pay with a phone). The instrument phrase always comes first: Subject + 用 + tool + Verb. Keep instrumental 'with' (用) separate from comitative 'with a person' (跟/和).
- 以 (yǐ): With / By (Formal)HSK 4 — 以 (yǐ) is the formal, classical-flavored coverb for means, manner, and basis — 'with / by / according to' — surviving mainly in fixed frames: 以…为… (take X as Y), 以身作则 (lead by example), 以便 / 以免 (so as to / lest).
- 比如/例如 — For ExampleHSK 3 — 比如 (bǐrú) and 例如 (lìrú) both mean 'for example,' but they split by register: 比如 is the spoken 'like / for instance,' 例如 the written 'e.g.'. Both come BEFORE the examples — never after — and the listed items are joined by the enumeration comma 、, often closing with 等 / 等等 'and so on'.
- 拿 (ná) — take / hold / carry (in the hand)HSK 2 — 拿 (ná) is the hands-on verb — grab, pick up, hold, fetch: 拿书, 拿着伞, 拿来, 拿走. It works as an instrument coverb (拿筷子吃) and hides in 拿手 'be good at'. The key contrast: you 拿 things in your hand, but 带 them along on a trip.