43

Expressing location and distance

43.1Location

43.1.1Words that indicate location and compass direction

43.1.1.1Location words

Mandarin location words consist of a base form and a location suffix. Base forms never occur alone. Some base forms occur with several different suffixes with no change in meaning. Here are the Mandarin location words and their English equivalents.

Base form	Mandarin location words			English
/	/	/	/
lm	lmtou	lmmiàn	lmbipn	in
	/		/
wài	wàitou	wàimian	wàibian	out
	/		/
shàng	shàngtou	shàngmian	shàngbian	over
	/		/
xià	xiàtou	xiàmian	xiàbian	under
	/		/
qián	qiántou	qiánmian	qiánbian	in front of
/	/	/	/
hòu	hòutou	hòumian	hòubian	behind
			/
zun		zunmiàn	zunbian	left
			/
yòu		yòumiàn	yòubian	right
/		/
duì		duìmiàn		across from
		/	/
páng		duìmiàn	pángbipn	next to
	/
zhsng	zhsngjipn			between

291

EXPRESSING LOCATION AND DISTANCE

43.1

NOTES

1 In traditional characters, the character lm is also written as .

2The choice of suffix is determined by the region of China and the personal preference of the speaker.

3Mandarin has a second word for ‘in,’ nèi. nèi does not occur with suffixes and has very restricted in usage. It is used in fixed expressions such as:

/	guónèi	domestic (vs. / guówài foreign)
	nèibù	internal
	nèiren	my wife

43.1.1.2Compass direction

The words for north, east, south, and west are also formed with a base form and a suffix. The suffix can be miàn or / bipn.

The combination compass direction words (northeast, southwest, etc.) usually occur without a suffix. If a suffix occurs, it is miàn or / bipn.

Base form	Mandarin compass direction words		English
/	/	/
dsng	dsngmiàn	dsngbian	east
		/
nán	nánmiàn	nánbian	south
		/
xr	xrmiàn	xr bian	west
		/
bli	blimiàn	blibian	north
	( )/ ( )	( )/ ( )
	dsngnán (miàn)	dsngnán (bian)	southeast
	( )/ ( )	( )/ ( )
	dsngbli (miàn)	dsngbli (bian)	northeast
	( )	( )/ ( )
	xrnán (miàn)	xrnán (bian)	southwest
	( )	( )/ ( )
	xrbli (miàn)	xrbli (bian)	northwest

43.1.2Spatial orientation with respect to a reference point

43.1.2.1Indicating location with respect to a reference using location words

To indicate that something is ‘inside,’ ‘outside,’ ‘over,’ ‘under,’ etc. a reference point, use the following structure:

reference point de location word

In the following phrases, the reference point is the house. Note that de may be omitted.

( ) / ( ) fángzi (de) lmtou

inside the house

( ) / ( ) fángzi (de) wàitou outside the house

292

Location

43.1

( ) / ( ) fángzi (de) shàngtou

on the house/over the house

( ) / ( ) fángzi (de) xiàtou

below the house/under the house

( ) / ( ) fángzi (de) qiántou

in front of the house

( ) / ( ) fángzi (de) hòutou behind the house

( ) / ( ) fángzi (de) zunbian

to the left of the house

( ) / ( ) fángzi (de) yòubian

to the right of the house

( ) / ( ) fángzi (de) duìmiàn across from the house

( ) / ( ) fángzi (de) zhsngjipn between the houses

!"/ !" fángzi (de) pángbipn next to the house

The location base forms / lm ‘inside,’ wài ‘outside,’ shàng ‘above,’ and xià ‘below’ can directly follow the reference point. When they occur this way, de does not occur.

reference point + location base form
( ) / ( ) or	/
fángzi (de) lmtou	fángzi lm
inside the house	inside the house
( ) / ( ) or
fángzi (de) wàitou	fángzi wài
outside the house	outside the house
( ) / ( ) or
fángzi (de) shàngtou	fángzi shàng
on top of the house	on top of the house
( ) / ( ) or
fángzi (de) xiàtou	fángzi xià
below the house	below the house

293

EXPRESSING LOCATION AND DISTANCE

43.1

43.1.2.2Indicating location with compass direction words

To indicate that something is ‘east of,’ ‘west of,’ ‘north of,’ or ‘south of’ a reference point, use the following structure. Keep in mind that compass direction words can be used with the miàn or / bipn suffix.

reference point de compass direction word

	!"
	fángzi de blimiàn
	north of the house
!"								!"
fángzi de xrmiàn						!"
west of the house								fángzi de dsngmiàn
								east of the house
	!"
	fángzi de nánmiàn
	south of the house

43.1.3Describing the location of an object

To describe the location of an object with respect to a reference point, say: object zài reference point de location word

In these examples, the object is the cat, and the reference point is the house.

!( )!( )

Mpo zài fángzi (de) lmtou.

The cat is inside the house.

!( )!( )

Mpo zài fángzi (de) wàitou.

The cat is outside the house.

!( )!( )

Mpo zài fángzi (de) shàngtou.

The cat is on the house/over the house.

!( )!( )

Mpo zài fángzi (de) xiàtou.

The cat is below the house/under the house.

!( )!( )

Mpo zài fángzi (de) qiántou.

The cat is in front of the house.

294

Indicating that an object exists or does not exist at a location

43.2

!( )!( )

Mpo zài fángzi (de) hòutou.

The cat is behind the house.

!( )!( )

Mpo zài fángzi (de) zunbian.

The cat is to the left of the house.

!( )!( )

Mpo zài fángzi (de) yòubian.

The cat is to the right of the house.

!( )!( )

Mpo zài fángzi (de) duìmiàn.

The cat is across from the house.

!( )!( )

Mpo zài fángzi (de) zhsngjipn.

The cat is between the houses.

!( )!( )

Mpo zài fángzi (de) pángbipn.

The cat is next to the house.

Use the same pattern to indicate location in terms of compass direction:

object zài reference point de compass location word

!( ) ( )!E F E F

Fángzi zài lù (de) xrbli (bipn).

The house is to the northwest of the road.

!( ) ( )!( ) ( )

Lù zài fángzi (de) dsngnán (bipn).

The road is to the southeast of the house.

43.2Indicating that an object exists or does not exist at a location

To indicate that an object exists at a location, use the following pattern. Note thatzài is optional at the beginning of the sentence.

( zài) location ynu object

At location there is object (there are objects).

295

EXPRESSING LOCATION AND DISTANCE

43.2

( ) !"# ( ) !"#

(Zài) zhuszi shàng ynu sht.

On the table there is a book (there are books).

( ) !"#$ E F !"#$

(Zài) fángzi hòubian ynu mpo.

Behind the house there is a cat (there are cats).

ynu object zài location

There is object (there are objects) at location.

!"#$%&!"#$%&

Ynu likng bln sht zài zhuszi shàng.

There are two books on the table.

!"#$%&'(!"#$%&'(

Ynu yrzhr mpo zài fángzi de hòubian.

There is a cat behind the house.

To indicate that an object does not exist at a location, use the following structure:

( zài) location méi ynu object At location there is no object.

( ) !"#$ ( ) !"#$

(Zài) fángzi lm méi ynu rén.

There are no people in the house.

(lit. ‘In the house there are no people.’)

( ) !"#$ ( ) !"#$

(Zài) wtzi lm méi ynu zhuszi.

There aren’t any tables in the room.

(lit. ‘In the room there aren’t any tables.’)

or

méi ynu object zài location

!"#$%!"#$%

Méi ynu rén zài fángzi lm.

There are no people in the house.

!"#!$%!"#!$%

Méi ynu zhuszi zài wtzi lm.

There aren’t any tables in the room.

296

Using location as a description

43.3

43.3Using location as a description

Location phrases may also be used to describe a noun. When used as a description, the location phrase precedes the noun, as follows:

Location phrase de noun

the noun at this location [or] the noun in this direction

To help you to understand this structure, the location phrase in each of the following examples is presented in square brackets. Notice that the words ‘that,’ ‘who,’ and ‘which’ that occur in the description in English are not translated into Mandarin. In Mandarin, the noun can be understood as singular or plural.

[ ]= [ ]=

[shpfp shàng] de mpo

the cat [(that is) on the sofa]

[ ]= [ ]=

[fángzi lm] de rén

the person [(who is) in the house]

[ ]= [ ]=

[blibipn] de hú

the lake [(that is) in the north]

[ ]= [ ]=

[zunbian] de rén

the person [(who is) on the left]

The location phrase may itself include a noun with a description:

[ ( ) ]= [ ( ) ]=

[fángzi de hòutou] de rén

the person [(who is) behind the house]

[ ( ) ]= [ ( ) ]=

[túshtgukn (de) duìmiàn] de xuéxiào

the school [(that is) across from the library]

Í9.2, 26.3

Compare the use of the location phrase as a description of a noun, with the use of the location phrase to indicate the location of a noun. Keep in mind that location phrases follow the noun and description phrases precede the noun.

297

EXPRESSING LOCATION AND DISTANCE		43.4
Location: noun de location phrase	Description: location phrase de noun
!"	!"
!"	!"
fángzi de hòutou	hòutou de fángzi
behind the house	the house that is behind
!"	!"
fángzi de blimiàn	blimiàn de fángzi
to the north of the house	the house to the north
!"	!"
!"	!"
háizi de yòubian	yòubian de háizi
to the right of the child	the child on the right
!	!
!	!
qiántou de rén	rén de qiántou
the person who is in front	in front of the person
!	!
!	!
sht de shàngtou	shàngtou de sht
on top of the book	the book on top

43.4Talking about distance

In Mandarin, distance is always expressed with the word / lí ‘to be separated from.’ All expressions of distance use the following structure. The noun phrases refer to objects or locations.

noun phrase1 / lí noun phrase2 close/far/x distance noun phrase1 is close/far/x distance from noun phrase2

43.4.1Talking about ‘near’ and ‘far’

To say that one object or place is (very) far from another object or place, say:

noun phrase1 / noun phrase2 ( ) / noun phrase1 lí noun phrase2 (hln) yukn

!"#

!"#$%&

Wn jip lí túshtgukn hln yukn.

My house is very far from the library.

To say that one object or place is (very) close to another object or place, say:

noun phrase1 / noun phrase2 ( ) noun phrase1 lí noun phrase2 (hln) jìn

!"( )!"( )

Gsngyuán lí xuéxiào (hln) jìn.

The park is very close to the school.

298

Talking about distance

43.4

To say that an object or place is close to your present location, say:

noun phrase1 / / ( )

noun phrase1	lí	zhèr	(hln) jìn
or
noun phrase1	/ / ( )
noun phrase1	lí	zhèlm	(hln) jìn

!"( )!"( )

Gsngyuán lí zhèr (hln) jìn.

The park is (very) close to here.

!"( )!"( )

Xuéxiào lí zhèlm (hln) jìn.

The school is (very) close to here.

To say that an object or place is far from your present location, say:

noun phrase1 / / ( ) /

noun phrase1	lí	zhèr	(hln) yukn
or
noun phrase1	/ / ( ) /
noun phrase1	lí	zhèlm	(hln) yukn

!"( )!"( )

Gsngyuán lí zhèr (hln) yukn.

The park is (very) far from here.

!"( )!"( )

Xuéxiào lí zhèlm (hln) yukn.

The school is (very) far from here.

Be careful to use / lí ‘to be separated from,’ and not the prepositions dào ‘from’ or / cóng ‘from’ when talking about distance.

Say this	Not this
!"#$%	G !"#$%
!"#$%	!"#$%
Wn jip lí túshtgukn jìn.	Wn jip dào túshtgukn jìn.
My house is close to the library.
	G !"#$%
	!"#$%
	Wn jip jìn dào túshtgukn.

43.4.2Talking about specific distance

To indicate the specific distance between two objects or places, say:

noun phrase1 / noun phrase2 ( ) distance noun phrase1 lí noun phrase2 (ynu) distance

299

EXPRESSING LOCATION AND DISTANCE

43.5

!"#( ) ( )!"#( ) ( )

Gsngyuán lí túshtgukn (ynu) spn lm (lù).

The park is three miles from the library.

Commonly used distance words include:

	lm	Chinese mile (.5 kilometers)
	gsnglm	kilometer
	mm	meter
	Yrng lm	English mile
	lm	English mile

43.5Asking about distance

43.5.1Asking about ‘near’ and ‘far’

To ask if an object or place is far from another object or place, say:

noun phrase1		noun phrase2
noun phrase1		noun phrase2
noun phrase1	lí	noun phrase2	yukn ma?
or
noun phrase1		noun phrase2
noun phrase1		noun phrase2
noun phrase1	lí	noun phrase2	yukn bù yukn?

!"#$%&!"#$%&

Nm jip lí túshtgukn yukn ma?

Is your house far from the library?

or

!"#$%$&!"#$%$&

Nm jip lí túshtgukn yukn bù yukn?

Is your house far from the library?

To ask if an object or place is near to another object or place, say:

noun phrase1		noun phrase2
noun phrase1		noun phrase2
noun phrase1	lí	noun phrase2	jìn ma?

!"#$%&!"#$%&

Nm jip lí túshtgukn jìn ma?

Is your house close to the library?

NOTE As in English, the question ‘is it far?’ is more neutral than the question ‘is it close?’ When the speaker asks ‘is it far?’ he or she typically does not necessarily expect the answer to be ‘far.’ However, when the question is ‘is it close?’ the speaker often expects the answer to be ‘close.’

300

Asking about distance

43.5

To ask if an object or place is far from your present location, say:

!"#$%&!"#$%&

Túshtgukn lí zhèr yukn ma?

Is the library far from here?

or

!"#$%&!"#$%&

Túshtgukn lí zhèlm yukn ma?

Is the library far from here?

Í24.1

43.5.2Asking about specific distances

To ask how far one object or place is from another object or place, say:

!"#$( )!"#$( )

Nm jip lí túshtgukn dus(me) yukn?

How far is your house from the library?

or

!"#$%&'!"#$%&'

Nm jip lí túshtgukn ynu dus yukn?

How far is your house from the library?

Í24.6

301