那些 (nàxiē) vs 这些 (zhèxiē) — use 那些 for items that are farther away, while 这些 refers to items that are closer to the speaker.

Imagine pointing to a group of distant friends and saying, 'Those are my friends!' The character 那 (nà) looks like someone pointing in the distance, while 些 (xiē) can remind you of 'sheer,' as in 'sheer numbers of things far away.'

Be careful not to confuse those with other demonstratives like 这个 (zhège, 'this') or 那个 (nàgè, 'that'). Use 那些 in plural situations when referring to multiple items or people. It's generally informal, but can be used in formal contexts when necessary.

Though 那些 is not a standalone HSK vocabulary word, it connects well with other demonstratives and quantifiers common in HSK levels 1 and 2. Focus on practicing it with nearby words like 这个 (zhège, 'this') and 那个 (nàgè, 'that') to understand their distinctions.

In Chinese culture, the use of demonstratives can reflect social distance and respect, particularly in formal settings. For example, using 那些 can subtly indicate a level of distance or formality when referring to people in a business context.

Learners often mistakenly use 这些 (zhèxiē, 'these') when they mean 'those.' For example, saying '这些书' (zhèxiē shū) when referring to books that are not nearby. The correct phrase should be '那些书' (nàxiē shū).