How to express “the” in Chinese

The word “the” is used frequently in English, and you may wonder how to translate it into Chinese. However, there is no direct equivalent for “the” in Chinese.

One common usage of “the” in English is to refer to specific nouns. In Chinese, there are three ways to express this concept.

Using Topic-comment Structure

In linguistics, the topic of a sentence refers to what is being discussed, while the comment is what is being said about the topic. When using the topic-comment structure in Chinese, it’s common to place the object at the beginning of the sentence instead of following the SVO structure.

書shū在zài哪裡nǎlǐ？ 书shū在zài哪里nǎlǐ？
Where is the book? (in specific)
Both listener and speaker know which book they are talking about.

哪裡nǎlǐ有yǒu書shū？ 哪里nǎlǐ有yǒu书shū？
Where can I find books？(in general)

狗gǒu我wǒ洗xǐ了le！ 狗gǒu我wǒ洗xǐ了le！
I have washed the dog. (in specific)
(Even if you have 2 dogs, the listener knows exactly which dog you are talking about)

我wǒ洗xǐ狗gǒu了le！ 我wǒ洗xǐ狗gǒu了le！
Wǒ xǐgǒule！
I have washed a dog or dogs. (in general)
(If you have 2 dogs, the listener may ask you which dog, or, did you wash both of them?)

Let’s compare them

Using Demonstrative Pronouns

Demonstrative pronouns are a type of pronoun that are used to point to or identify a specific person, place, thing, or idea. They are used to replace a noun or noun phrase, and to indicate its location in relation to the speaker or the listener.

Examples of demonstrative pronouns include “this,” “that,” “these,” and “those.” “This” and “these” are used to refer to things that are near the speaker, while “that” and “those” are used to refer to things that are farther away from the speaker. In Chinese are 這这 zhè (this) and 那 nà (that)

這個zhège蛋糕dàngāo很hěn好吃hǎochī这个zhège蛋糕dàngāo很hěn好吃hǎochī
This cake really tastes good. (in specific)

蛋糕dàngāo很hěn好吃hǎochī蛋糕dàngāo很hěn好吃hǎochī
Cakes really taste good. (in general)

那些nàxiē人rén是shì誰shéi？ 那些nàxiē人rén是shì谁shéi？
Who are those people?

那nà中文Zhōngwén(字) zì 很hěn難nán寫xiě那nà中文Zhōngwén(字) zì 很hěn难nán写xiě
That Chinese (character) is hard to write. (in specific)

中文Zhōngwén很hěn難nán寫xiě中文Zhōngwén很hěn难nán写xiě
Chinese is hard to write. (in general)

Using Clear Descriptions

你nǐ喜歡xǐhuān吃chī媽媽māma做zuò的de飯fàn嗎ma？ 你nǐ喜欢xǐhuan吃chī妈妈māma做zuò的de饭fàn吗ma？
Do you like to eat the food your mom made?

我們wǒmen昨天zuótiān去qù的de餐廳cāntīng很hěn貴guì我们wǒmen昨天zuótiān去qù的de餐厅cāntīng很hěn贵guì
The restaurant we went to yesterday was expensive.

他tā弄壞nònghuài了le你nǐ新xīn買mǎi的de電視機diànshìjī他tā弄坏nònghuài了le你nǐ新xīn买mǎi的de电视机diànshìjī
He broke the TV you just bought.