Breakdown of nàge nánrén zài liàng yīfu.
在zài
progressive marker
衣服yīfu
clothes
那个nàge
that
晾liàng
to hang out to dry
Questions & Answers about nàge nánrén zài liàng yīfu.
What does 那个 mean here, and why is 个 included?
那个 means that.
The 个 is a measure word / classifier. In Chinese, when you say this/that + noun, you usually need a classifier in between:
- 这 + 个 + 男人 = this man
- 那 + 个 + 男人 = that man
So 那个男人 literally follows the pattern that + classifier + man.
个 is a very common general classifier, and it works naturally with 男人 here.
Why is the word order 那个男人 在 晾 衣服?
This sentence follows a very common Chinese pattern:
So:
- 那个男人 = the man
- 在 = indicates an action is in progress
- 晾 = hang out / air-dry
- 衣服 = clothes
So the structure is basically:
That man + is + air-drying + clothes
Chinese word order is often close to English here, except that the progressive marker 在 goes directly before the verb.
What does 在 mean in this sentence?