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I saw this Very frequently used word in Mandarin that sounds like "nica" or "nigah" question, but I often hear another word in Chinese Mandarin that sounds like "jigga." It seems to be used very frequently and is almost certainly not a reference to Jay-Z.
Does anyone know what it is?
The word that sounds like "jigga" would be:
这个
zhège
and it means:
this / this one
It is sometimes also pronounced
zhèige
Which would account for any variations in pronunciation that you might hear.
Or perhaps 几个 （ji3 ge4) (which means "how many").
"jigga" ：几个 （ji3 ge4) it means 'how many?' or 'several'. it depends on your tone, query or indicative mood.
Could also be 那个 (nèige) kinda sounds like a racial slur... It's like a pause or like the (well) in "well...i was just considering going shopping. Where in english you might say ummm or hmmm or well.
