那个

nà ge

The filler word "neige"

那个 is the Chinese "um" — a stall while you find the next word.

⋯⋯那个⋯⋯

How it works

那个⋯⋯你可以做我的女朋友吗? Here 那个 means nothing; it buys the speaker a moment.

It's usually drawn out and often repeated. 这个 does the same job, as do 就是 and 然后.

Worth recognising early, because it is everywhere in natural speech and beginners hear it as a real word and try to parse it.

Examples

  • nà ge …… nǐ kě yǐ zuò wǒ de nǚ péng yǒu ma?

    那个⋯⋯你可以做我的女朋友吗?

    Um… would you be my girlfriend?

  • wǒ xiǎng nà ge …… míng tiān zài shuō ba

    我想那个⋯⋯明天再说吧。

    I think, um… let's talk tomorrow.

  • zhè ge …… wǒ bú tài qīng chǔ

    这个⋯⋯我不太清楚。

    Um… I'm not really sure.