Specifying Location in Mandarin Chinese
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Position words
The following list of position words is used for expressing position, the character between braces is the _obligatory_ suffix that should be added when using the postposition, when there are multiple you can choose any of them. The characters that are marked with an asterisk can also appear directly as postposition (behind the noun) without needing a suffix.
- 这里/这儿 - zhèlĭ/zhèr - here
- 那里/那儿 - nǎlĭ/nǎr - there
- 上 (*/边/面/头) - shàng (biān/miàn/tou) - above, on
- 下 (*/边/面/头) - xià (biān/miàn/tou) - below, under
- 里 (*/边/面/头) - lĭ (biān/miàn/tou) - in(side)
- 外 (*/边/面/头) - wài (biān/miàn/tou) - out(side)
- 後 (边/面/头) - hòu (biān/miàn/tou) - behind
- 前 (边/面/头) - qián (biān/miàn/tou) - in front (of)
- 对 (面) - duì (miàn) - opposite (to)
- 旁 (边) - páng (biān) - aside,near
- 中 (间) - zhōng (ji�?n) - between
- 这 (边/面) - zhè (biān/miàn) - at this side (of)
- 那 (边/面) - nà (biān/miàn) - at that side (of)
- 左 (边/面) - zuǒ (biān/miàn) - left (of)
- 石 (边/面) - yòu (biān/miàn) - right (of)
Note: In Chinese the points of the compass are usually listed in the order of: East, South, West, North. Not in the usual Western order of North, South, East, West.
- 东 (边) - dōng (biān) - east (of)
- 南 (边) - nán (biān) - south (of)
- 西 (边) - xī (biān) - west (of)
- 北 (边) - běi (biān) - north (of)
These position words can appear in several ways in a sentence, they can appear independently, which is by the way the only way in which 这里 and 那里 can appear:
- 这里是房子 (zhèlĭ shì fángzi) - Literal: here is house - Here is the house
- 房子在北边 (fángzi zài běi biān) - Literal: house is north - The house is in the north
The position words can also be used adjectively:
- 北边的房子 (běi biān de fángzi) - Literal: north [DP] house - the northern house
Postpositions
But the most common use is to be used as postposition:
- 房子後面 (fàngzi hòu miàn) - Literal: house behind - behind the house
- 房子外边 (fàngzi wài biān) - Literal: house outside - outside of the house
- 房子外 (fàngzi wài) - Literal: house outside - outside of the house
When there are two items, such as often is the case when using "between", then you can use a postposition in the following way, using the Chinese word for "and": 和 (hé):
- 在我的房子和你的房子之间 (wǒ de fàngzi hé n�? de páng bi�?n) - Literal: my house and your house between - between my house and your house
Verbs
The main three verbs
There are several verbs associated with expressing location, the main ones being 在 (zài), 是 (shì) and 有(yǒu). The two latter we have already seen before.
When using 是 (shì), the position must appear at the start of the sentences:
- 房子外是我 (fàngzi wài shì wǒ) - Literal: house out am I - I am outside of the house
The more common 在 (zài) works the other way round, the position has to appear at the end of the sentence:
- 我在房子外 (wǒ zài fàngzi wài) - Literal: I located-at house outside - I am outside of the house
有(yǒu) (which you know is also used to indicate possession, "to have") can be used in this context to mean "there is/are" and is usually used with undetermined things, unlike 是 (shì). The position also has to be at the start of the sentence here:
- 北京里有房子 (běijīng l�? yǒu fàngzi) - Literal: Beijing in have house - There are houses in Beijing
在 (zài) can also be used as a locational preposition, instead of a verb. 在 (zài) will then be followed by the position it applies to and then will be followed by a position word, this position word is not necessary though when the position is a geographical name or a very common place.
- 我在房子後面给你辞典 (wǒ zài fàngzi hòu miàn gěi n�? cídiǎn) - Literal: I [LOC.PREP] house behind give you dictionary - I give you the dictionary behind the house
Note that the construction is: subject - locational preposition - position - position word - predicate - object.
在 (zài) can also be used to express "at my place", "at your place" etc..., in this case it is followed by a personal pronoun and the word for here or there
- 我在你这儿 (wǒ zài n�? zhèr) - Literal: I located-at you here - I'm at your place (here)
- 我在你这里 (wǒ zài n�? zhè l�?) - Literal: I located-at you here - I'm at your place (here)
- 我在你那儿 (wǒ zài n�? nǎr) - Literal: I located-at you there - I'm at your place (there)
- 我在你那里 (wǒ zài n�? nǎ l�?) - Literal: I located-at you there - I'm at your place (there)
Expressing distance
The verb 离(lí) is used to express a distance to something it often comes with the words: 近 (jìn) (close) and 远 (yuǎn) (far):
- 北京离东京远 (běijīng lí d�?ngjīng yuǎn) - Literal: Beijing distance-from Tokyo far - Beijing is far away from Tokyo.
- 我的房子离你的房子一公里 (wǒ de fángzi lí n�? de fángzi yì g�?ngli) - Literal: my house distance-from your house one kilometer - My house is one kilometer away from your house
Expressing direction
There are several verbs of direction, we will give a list of the most important ones below:
- 去 - qù - to go (away from speaker)
- 来 - lái - to come (go toward speaker)
- 回 - húi - to return
- 上 - shàng - to go up, to ascend
- 下 - xià - to go down, to descend
- 进 - jìn - to enter
- 出 - chū - to exit
- 到/到达/达到 - dào/dàodá/dádào - to arrive
Some examples:
- 我去北京 (wǒ qù běijīng) - Literal: I go Beijing - I go to Beijing
- 我来北京 (wǒ lái běijīng) - Literal: I come Beijing - I come to Beijing
- 我到北京 (wǒ dào běijīng) - Literal: I arrive Beijing - I arrive in Beijing
- 我进房子 (wǒ jìn fángzi) - Literal: I enter house - I enter the house
- 我出房子 (wǒ chū fángzi) - Literal: I exit house - I leave the house
There are also prepositional constructs to express direction, the construct used for going or coming somewhere uses 到 (dào) followed by the location and then 去 (qù) or 来 (lái):
- 我到北京去 (wǒ dào běijīng qù) - Literal: I to Beijing go - I go to Beijing
- 我到北京来 (wǒ dào běijīng lái) - Literal: I to Beijing come - I come to Beijing
When you want to specify where someone comes from, and not where someone goes to, you can use the 从 (cóng)....来(lái) construction:
- 我从北京来 (wǒ cóng běijīng lái) - Literal: I from Beijing come - I come from Beijing
