Lesson 10 - Directions and Positions

In this lesson, we will learn about directions and positions.

'I go to school' is a simple sentence where 'go' is the verb and 'school' is the direction of the verb.
To express this phrase, we use the verb '去' (qu4) which means 'go' literally.

For example,

1. 我 去 学校。(wo3 qu4 xue2 xiao4) - I go to school

Let's learn the names of few places:

1. 家  (jia1) - home
2. 上班 (shang4 ban1) - work
3. 医院 (yi1 yuan4) - hospital
4. 新加坡 (xin1 jia1 po1) - Singapore
5. 中国 (zhong1 guo2) - China
6. 台湾 (tai2 wan1) - Taiwan
7. 日本 (ri4 ben3) - Japan
8. 市场 (shi4 chang3) - Market
9. 机场 (ji1 chang3) - Airport
10. 巴士站/公车站 (ba1 shi4 zhan4/gong1 che1 zhan4) - Bus Stop
11. 捷运站/地铁站 (jie2 yun4 zhan4/di4 tie3 zhan4) - Metro/Subway Station

Using the same format, you can express where one goes.

1. 他 去 日本。(ta1 qu4 ri4 ben3) - He goes to Japan.
2. 他们 去 机场。 (ta1 men2 qu4 ji1 chang3) - They go to the Airport.

Let's learn some words:

1. 走(zou3) - walk
2. 跑 (pao3) - run
3. 赶 (gan3) - hurry
4. 飞 (fei1) - fly
5. 搭 / 程搭 (da1/cheng2 da1) - take (transport)
6. 巴士/公车 (ba1 shi4/gong1 che1) - bus
7. 捷运/地铁 (jie2 yun4/di4 tie3) - Metro/Subway
8. 飞机 (fei1 ji1) - Airplane
9. 出租车/计程车/德士 (chu1 zu1 che1 (China)/ji4 cheng2 che1 (Taiwan)/de2 shi4 (Malaysia/Singapore)) - Taxi
10. 车/汽车 (che1/ qi4 che1) - Car

To indicate a verb of how the action towards the direction is carried out, the verb is attached to 去 (qu4).

Some sample sentences:

1. 他 走去 学校。(ta1 zou3 qu4 xue2 xiao4) - He walks to school.
2. 她 飞去 新加坡。 (ta1 fei1 qu4 xin1 jia1 po1) - She flies to Singapore.

Taking a transport is indicated by using the verb ' 搭 / 程搭 (da1/cheng2 da1) '.
For example,

1. 搭 飞机 (da1 fei1 ji1) - Takes a plane.
2. 搭 公车 (da1 gong1 che1) - Takes a bus.

And the entire phrase can be attached to 去 (qu4) as well.
For example,

1. 她 塔 公车去 学校。(ta1 da1 gong1 che1 qa4 xue2 xiao4) - She takes a bus to school.
2. 他们 搭 飞机去 日本。(ta1 men2 da1 fei1 ji1 qu4 ri4 ben3) - They take a plane to Japan.

To express position, we use 在 (zai4). Recall that the same word is used to express a continual action.

1. 他 在 学校。(ta1 zai4 xue2 xiao4) - He is at school.
2. 她 在 医院。(ta1 zai4 yi1 yuan4) - She is at hospital.
3. 我 在 家。(wo3 zai4 jia1) - I am at home.

Words such as 'on', 'in' and 'above' etc are called prepositions in English. In Chinese, because they come after the noun, they are postpositions instead. Let's learn some of them:

1. 上 (shang4) - on, above, up
2. 下 (xia4) - under, below, down
3. 里 (li3) - in, inside (of)
4. 外 (wai4) - out, outside (of)
5. 旁 / 旁边 (pang2 / pang2 bian1) - beside

Remember, these words are placed behind the nouns. For example,

1. 狗 在 桌子上。(gou3 zai4 zhuo1 zi3 shang1) - Dog is on the table.
2. 我 在 家里。(wo3 zai4 jia1 li3) - I am at (in) home.
3. 小美 在 飞机上。(xiao3 mei3 zai4 fei1 ji1 shang4) - Xiao-Mei is on the plane.
4. 猫 在 鱼旁边。 (mao1 zai4 yu2 pang2 bian1) - Cat is beside the fish.
5. 我 的 饭 在 桌子上。(wo3 de4 fan4 zai4 zhuo1 zi3 shang1) - My rice is on the table.

 And some more new words:

1. 那里 / 那边 (na4 li3/ na4 bian1) - There
2. 这里 / 这边 (zhe4 li4/ zhe4 bian1) - Here
3. 那 (+ quantifier) - That/Those
4. 这 (+ quantifier) - This/These
5. 那些 - Those (when no quantifier is needed)
6. 这些 - These (when no quantifier is needed)

And now you can form more examples and comment them below!
Here are some too:

1. 我 的 家 在 那里。(wo3 de4 jia1 zai4 na4 li3) - My house is over there.
2. 这只 狗 是 我的。(zhe4 zhi1 gou3 shi4 wo3 de3) - This dog is mine.
3. 现在，我 在 吃 这碗 饭。(xian4 zai4, wo3 zai4 chi1 zhe4 wan3 fan4) - Now I am eating this bowl of rice.
4. 这里 是 中国。(zhe4 li3 shi4 zhong1 guo2) - Here is China (This is China).
5. 那三粒 球 是 他的。 (na4 san1 li4 qiu2 shi4 ta1 de4) - Those three balls are his.
6. 这个 电脑游戏 不是 我们的。(zhe4 ge4 dian4 nao3 you2 xi4 bu4 shi4 wo3 men2 de4) - This computer game is not ours.