Expressing "then…" with "name"

Are you looking for another way to use 那么? Then, take a look at this article!

Structure

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

Context ，那么 + Result / Decision

Examples

Here are some examples of 那么 being used in this way.

• 大家 都 同意 这 个 方案，那么 ，我们 就 开始 实施 吧 。Dàjiā dōu tóngyì zhège fāng'àn, nàme, wǒmen jiù kāishǐ shíshī ba.Everyone agrees on this plan, so we'll start to implement it.
• 你 认为 这个 想法 行不通 ，那么，你 有 其他 的 想法 吗 ？Nǐ rènwéi zhège xiǎngfǎ xíng bùtōng, nàme, nǐ yǒu qítā de xiǎngfǎ ma?You don’t think this idea is possible. Then have you got any other good idea?
• 十五 路 公共 汽车 已经 没有 了，那么 ，我们 怎么 回家 ?Shíwǔ lù gōnggòng qìchē yǐjīng méiyǒu le, nàme, wǒmen zěnme huíjiā?The Line 15 bus already stopped running, so how are we going to get home?
• 我 的 文章 的 初稿 真 不 太 好，那么 ，明天 我 怎么 交 论文 呢 ？Wǒ de wénzhāng de chūgǎo zhēn bù tài hǎo, nàme, míngtiān wǒ zěnme jiāo lùnwén ne?My first draft isn't very good, so how am I going to hand in a dissertation tomorrow?

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)　→buy
• Integrated Chinese: Level 2, Part 1 (pp. 51-2) →buy
• New Practical Chinese Reader 4 (新实用汉语课本4) (pp. 103) →buy
• 卓越汉语－公司实战篇 (p. 122) →buy