Where is it
You finished this day
Chinese separates where something is from whether it exists at all, the same split English makes between where is the bank and is there a bank. Once you have that, asking the way is a matter of swapping nouns.
Asking
One question shape covers almost everything you need to find.
在, zài, says where a known thing is, and 有, yǒu, says whether such a thing exists. The word order follows the meaning: the thing, then 在, then the place, but the place, then 有, then the thing. Asking 银行在哪儿 assumes there is a bank. 附近有银行吗 does not. Choosing the right one quietly tells the listener what you already know.
The answer
Directions are built from three small pieces.
Every direction is 往, a direction, and a verb of movement. 往前走 is towards front walk, 往右拐 is towards right turn. Learn 前 front, 后 hòu behind, 左 left and 右 right, and you can follow most directions even when the rest of the sentence goes past too fast to catch.
Here, there, near and far
Where adjectives meet their one essential helper.
Chinese adjectives behave like verbs, so 近 already means is near and there is no 是 in the sentence. 很, hěn, usually sits in front, and it is not really very. It is the link a bare adjective needs to sound finished. 很近 means it is close, not it is very close. Leave the 很 out and the sentence sounds like the start of a comparison. Note that 很近 and 很远 take no 是. That is the split from day 3: 是 joins two nouns, and an adjective carries the being itself.
Northern speakers, Beijing above all, add an r sound to many words: 哪儿 nǎr, 这儿 zhèr, 一点儿 yìdiǎnr. Southern speakers and Taiwan mostly say 哪里, 这里 and 一点 instead. Both are standard Mandarin and everyone understands both. This course writes the northern forms, and the southern ones will never get you a blank look.
8 questions. Get 5 right to finish the day.
You do not know whether there is a bank nearby. You ask
- 银行很近 yínháng hěn jìn
- 银行是哪儿？ yínháng shì nǎr?
- 银行在哪儿？ yínháng zài nǎr?
- 附近有银行吗？ fùjìn yǒu yínháng ma?
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附近有银行吗？ 有 asks whether there is one at all; 在哪儿 assumes there is and asks where.
Type where's the toilet? in pinyin.
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xǐshǒujiān zài nǎr? The most useful question of the first week.
Which says the bank is over there?
- 银行那儿在 yínháng nàr zài
- 那儿银行在 nàr yínháng zài
- 银行在那儿 yínháng zài nàr
- 在银行那儿 zài yínháng nàr
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银行在那儿 yínháng zài nàr The thing, then 在, then the place.
往右拐 means
- turn right
- go back
- turn left
- go straight on
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turn right Towards right, turn.
What does 很 do in 很近?
- makes it past
- links the adjective so it sounds finished
- means very, strongly
- makes it a question
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links the adjective so it sounds finished 很近 is it is close, not it is very close.
Type the Chinese for I'm lost.
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wǒ mílù le Literally I have lost the road.
走路十分钟 means
- it's ten o'clock
- ten minutes by car
- walk for ten hours
- ten minutes' walk
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ten minutes' walk 走路, on foot, plus the time it takes.
走路十分钟 tells you
- it is ten o'clock
- it is ten minutes on foot
- ten people are walking
- walk ten metres
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it is ten minutes on foot 走路 on foot, then the time it takes.
Question 1 of 8
Character 1 of 32
Press Watch to see the stroke order.
Stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi via Hanzi Writer, Arphic Public License.