Expressing "then…" with "name"

English speakers often like to connect sentences together with "so..." and also try to do this in Chinese with the word 所以 (suǒyǐ). In reality, they should mostly be using 那么 (nàme).

Structure

When expressing "so...," you can use 那么 or 那 in order to begin a judgment or result from previous context. An example of this in English would be: "so, what should we do?"

Situation ，那么 + Suggestion / Decision

Examples

• 他 不 听 ，那 我 应该 怎么办 ？Tā bù tīng, nà wǒ yīnggāi zěnmebàn? He wouldn't listen. So what should I do?
• 你 说 这个 办法 不行 ，那 你 有 别的 办法 吗 ？Nǐ shuō zhège bànfǎ bù xíng, nà nǐ yǒu bié de bànfǎ ma?You said this idea is not going to work. So do you have any other ideas?
• 大家 都 到 了 ，那么 我们 开始 吧 。Dàjiā dōu dào le, nàme wǒmen kāishǐ ba.Everybody is here, so let's begin.
• 雨 停 了 ，那 我们 走 吧 。Yǔ tíng le, nà wǒmen zǒu ba.The rain has stopped, so shall we leave?
• 你 说 得 有 道理 ，那么 就 这么 办 吧 。Nǐ shuō de yǒu dàolǐ, nàme jiù zhème bàn ba.What you said makes sense, so let's just do that.
• 他 学 过 十 年 中文 ？那 他 的 中文 说 得 很 好 吧 ？Tā xué guo shí nián Zhōngwén? Nà tā de Zhōngwén shuō de hěn hǎo ba?He's studied Chinese for ten years? So he must speak Chinese really well, then?
• 他 表现 不错 ，那么 让 他 通过 吧 。Tā biǎoxiàn bùcuò, nàme ràng tā tōngguò ba.He performed well, so let's let him pass.
• 会议 时间 已经 确定 了 ，那 你 快点 去 安排 吧 。Huìyì shíjiān yǐjīng quèdìng le, nà nǐ kuài diǎn qù ānpái ba.The meeting time has been set, so please arrange it soon.
• 他们 没有 提前 通知 我们 ，那么 这 是 他们 的 责任 。Tāmen méiyǒu tíqián tōngzhī wǒmen, nàme zhè shì tāmen de zérèn.They didn't notify us in advance, so this is their responsibility.
• 实现 这个 目标 应该 不 难 ，那么 我们 一起 努力 吧 。Shíxiàn zhège mùbiāo yīnggāi bù nán, nàme wǒmen yīqǐ nǔlì ba.It shouldn't be difficult to reach this goal, so let's all really make an effort.

See also

• Explaining results with "suoyi"
• Cause and effect with "yinwei" and "suoyi"

Sources and further reading

Books

• Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Part 1 (3rd ed) (pp. 104-5) Anything Goes (无所不谈) →buy
• Integrated Chinese: Level 2, Part 1 (pp. 51-2) Anything Goes (无所不谈) →buy
• New Practical Chinese Reader 4 (新实用汉语课本4) (pp. 103) Anything Goes (无所不谈) →buy
• 卓越汉语－公司实战篇 (pp. 122) 卓越汉语－公司实战篇 →buy