nàge bóshì zài dàxué gōngzuò.

In Mandarin, 这/那 plus a noun usually needs a measure word in between.

So:

• 那博士 ❌
• 那个博士 ✅

Here, 个 is the very common general measure word.
The pattern is:

• 这 / 那 + measure word + noun

Examples:

• 这个学生 = this student
• 那个老师 = that teacher
• 那个博士 = that PhD / that doctor (in the academic sense)

Even though English just says that doctor, Chinese normally needs the extra word 个.

Usually, 博士 means someone with a doctoral degree, like a PhD or doctorate holder.

So in this sentence, 博士 is most naturally understood as:

• PhD
• doctorate holder
• possibly Professor So-and-so with a doctorate, depending on context

If you mean a medical doctor, Chinese more commonly uses:

• 医生 = doctor, physician

So:

• 那个博士 usually = that PhD / that doctorate holder
• 那个医生 = that doctor (medical)

Here 在 is being used as a preposition meaning at / in.

So:

• 在大学 = at a university

Mandarin usually puts location phrases before the main verb, unlike English, which often puts them after the verb.

Compare:

• English: works at a university
• Chinese: 在大学工作
  literally: at university work

This is a very common pattern:

• 他在家吃饭。 = He eats at home.
• 我在学校学习。 = I study at school.
• 那个博士在大学工作。 = That PhD works at a university.

Because 工作 is already the main verb.

This sentence is not saying:

• That person is a doctor

It is saying:

• That PhD works at a university

So the structure is:

• Subject + location phrase + verb

Here:

• 那个博士 = subject
• 在大学 = location phrase
• 工作 = main verb

You use 是 mainly to link nouns, as in:

• 他是博士。 = He is a PhD / He has a doctorate.

But in your sentence, the action is working, so 工作 does the job.

It can be both, depending on context.

In this sentence, 工作 is a verb:

• 在大学工作 = to work at a university

But 工作 can also be a noun meaning job or work:

• 我有工作。 = I have a job.
• 这个工作很好。 = This job is very good.

So learners often need to decide its role from the sentence.
Here, because it comes after the location phrase and describes an action, it is clearly a verb.

The sentence follows a very common Mandarin pattern:

• Subject + location + verb

So:

• 那个博士 = subject
• 在大学 = location
• 工作 = verb

Full structure:

• 那个博士 / 在大学 / 工作。

English often prefers:

• Subject + verb + location
• That PhD works at a university.

Mandarin very often prefers:

• Subject + where + action

This is a useful pattern to remember for many sentences.

Because 大学 is not being counted here. It is part of the location phrase 在大学.

Measure words are used when you specify or count nouns, especially after numbers or demonstratives:

• 一所大学 = one university
• 那所大学 = that university

But in this sentence, 大学 is just a general place:

• 在大学工作 = work at a university / work at university

So no measure word is needed here.

If you wanted to say at that university, you would normally say:

• 在那所大学工作

Here 所 is a common measure word for schools and institutions.

Mandarin does not have articles like a, an, and the.

So 大学 by itself can mean things like:

• a university
• the university
• university

The exact interpretation depends on context.

In your sentence, English usually translates it as a university, because the sentence sounds general:

• 那个博士在大学工作。 = That PhD works at a university.

If the speaker meant a specific university already known in context, English might use the. Chinese often leaves that to context instead of using articles.

In 那个, 个 is usually pronounced in the neutral tone:

• nàge

So even though 个 by itself is often listed as gè with a fourth tone, in very common combinations like:

• 这个
• 那个
• 哪个

it is usually light and unstressed.

So learners should normally say:

• nàge

not an overly strong:

• nàgè

A small note: in natural speech, 那个 is also often pronounced more like nèige or nèige, depending on accent and speed. But the textbook form nàge is perfectly fine for learners.

Yes. In everyday spoken Mandarin, many speakers pronounce 那个 more like:

• nèige
• sometimes even something closer to nàige, depending on region and speech style

This is common in natural conversation.

However:

• the standard dictionary-style reading is nàge
• learners are usually taught nàge first
• both recognition and listening practice are important, because real speech may sound different

Also, 那个 can sometimes be used as a filler word like um... in conversation, but in your sentence it clearly means that.

Yes, grammatically you can, but it changes the feel.

Compare:

• 那个博士在大学工作。
• 那个博士在一个大学工作。

The version without 一个 sounds more natural when speaking generally:

• works at a university
• works in higher education / at university

The version with 一个 emphasizes one university or some university more explicitly. It can sound a bit more specific or contrastive, depending on context.

So in many ordinary situations, the shorter version is smoother and more idiomatic.

That word order is not the normal one.

Mandarin usually places the location before the main verb, so the natural sentence is:

• 那个博士在大学工作。

Not:

• 那个博士工作在大学。 ❌

A good rule for beginners is:

• Subject + 在 + place + verb

Examples:

• 我在北京学习。
• 他在医院上班。
• 那个博士在大学工作。

So keep 在大学 before 工作.

Not exactly. 大学 most directly means university.

In English, college and university can overlap in some situations, especially in American English, but in Chinese:

• 大学 usually refers to a university-level institution
• 学院 can mean college, institute, or school within a university, depending on context

So for this sentence, university is usually the safest translation of 大学.