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Location / place in Chinese - Lesson 11

In this Chinese audio lesson, we will learn to ask and say where something is located.

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1. Vocabulary

Please learn the following Chinese vocabulary by saying the words and writing the new characters several times.

  Word Pinyin Translation  
1 在 zài to be located, to be
2 这儿 zhèr here
3 那 nà that
4 哪儿 nǎr where
5 边 bian (locative suffix which can be translated as "direction" or "side ...")
6 东 dōng east
7 南 nán south
8 西 xī west
9 北 běi north
10 右 yòu right
11 左 zuǒ left
12 前 qián in front, forward
13 后 hòu behind; back
14 旁 páng side
15 地方 dìfāng place
16 厕所 cèsuǒ toilets
17 银行 yínháng bank
18 学校 xuéxiào school
19 书店 shūdiàn bookstore
20 餐馆 cānguǎn restaurant
21 不客气 bùkèqì welcome
22 楼 lóu building
23 对 duì exact; right
24 它 tā it
25 大 dà big (but particularly for surface / area or age); large; wide
26 什么 shénme what

Classifiers

  Word Pinyin Translation  
1 家 jiā (classifier for all kind of establishment)
2 座 zuò (classifier for large building in the mountain)

2. Grammar

A. Ask and express the location / situation

In Chinese, to express the position of someone or something, we use the verb "在 ‹ zài ›".
When an adverb of place is used as the object, it is placed after this verb.

An adverb of place ends by a locative suffix. Here, we will use 边 ‹ bian ›. This for example will provide "右边 ‹ yòubian ›" ("on the right") and not just "右 ‹ yòu ›" ("right") or "北边 ‹ běibian ›"("on north") and not "北 ‹ běi ›" ("nord").

Subject + 在 + Location
  • 厕所 在 右边。 ‹ cèsuǒ zài yòubian. ›
    The toilets are on the right.
  • 餐馆 在 北边。 ‹ cānguǎn zài běibian. ›
    The restaurant is (on) North.

To ask the question "Where is ...", here is the standard sentence structure:

Subject + 在哪儿?

B. Adverb of place as attribute

When an adverb of place is used as an attribute, the possessive particle 的 ‹ de › is optional.

Locatif + ( 的 ) + Objet
  • 旁边 (的) 那个人 ‹ pángbiān (de) nà gè rén ›
    This person nearby
  • 前边 (的) 那座楼 ‹ qiánmiàn (de) nà zuò lóu. ›
    This building in front

3. Dialogues

First read to the texts several times until they are well understood before reading their translation.

Dialogue N° 1

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- 请问，厕所在这儿吗？‹ Qǐngwèn, cèsuǒ zài zhèr ma? ›
- 对，在这儿。 ‹ Duì, zài zhèr. ›
- 谢谢。 ‹ Xièxie. ›
- 不用谢。 ‹ Bùyòng xiè. ›

Dialogue N° 2

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- 请问，这是什么地方？ ‹ Qǐngwèn, zhè shì shénme dìfāng? ›
- 这是书店。‹ Zhè shì shūdiàn. ›
- 银行在哪儿？‹ Yínháng zài nǎr ? ›
- 后边的那座楼是银行。 ‹ Hòumian de nà zuò lóu shì yínháng. ›
- 谢谢！‹ Xièxie! ›
- 不客气！‹ Bù kèqì! ›

Translation :

- Please, what is this place?
- This is the bookstore.
- Where is the bank?
- The bank is behind that building.
- Thank you!
- You're welcome!

4. Text

plan d'une école

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这是我们的学校。它很大。 这是我们上课的地方。 1号楼，2号楼在前边。 3号楼，4号楼在后边。 4号楼的后边有一家书店。
‹ Zhè shì wǒmen de xuéxiào. Tā hěn dà. Zhè shì wǒmen shàngkè de dìfāng. 1 hào lóu,2 hào lóu zài qiánbian. 3 hào lóu,4 hào lóu zài hòubian. 4 hào lóu de hòubian yǒu yī jiā shūdiàn. ›

Translation :

This is our school. It is big. This is where the classes are held. The building No. 1 and the building No. 2 are in front. The building No. 3 and the building No. 4 are behind. Behind the building No. 4 there is a bookstore.

5. Exercises

A. Answer the following questions :

bâtiments 1 et 2
1号楼在哪儿？(1)
2号楼呢？
‹ 1 hào lóu zài nǎr ?
2 hào lóu ne? ›
bâtiments 1 et 3
1号楼在哪儿？
2号楼呢？
‹ 1 hào lóu zài nǎr ?
2 hào lóu ne? ›
librairie
书店在哪儿？
‹ Shūdiàn zài nǎr ? ›
restaurant
餐馆在哪儿？
‹ Cānguǎn zài nǎr? ›

(1) Ex : 1号楼在2号楼的左边。‹ 1 hào lóu zài 2 hào lóu de zuǒbiān. ›

B. Translate in Chinese

1. The toilet is (located) on your left.
2. This person next to you.
3. This building in front of the bank.
4. The restaurant south of the bookstore.


NEXT LESSON :
Expressing the arrangement of things