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Daily lessons · Day 7 of 90
Where is it
Location, existence, and directions
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.
Why it works
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.
Why it works
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.
Why it works
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.
哪儿 or 哪里
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.
Carried over from earlier days
Say each one out loud before you look at the English.
Today’s words 12
Check yourself
8 questions. Get 6 right to finish the day.
You do not know whether there is a pharmacy nearby. You ask
- 附近有药店吗？ fùjìn yǒu yàodiàn ma?
- 药店在哪儿？ yàodiàn zài nǎr?
- 药店是哪儿？ yàodiàn shì nǎr?
- 药店很近 yàodiàn hěn jìn
Show the answer
附近有药店吗？ fùjìn yǒu yàodiàn ma? 有 asks whether one exists. 在 asks where a known one is.
Type where's the toilet? in pinyin.
Show the answer
xǐshǒujiān zài nǎr? The most useful question of the first week.
Which says the bank is over there?
- 银行在那儿 yínháng zài nàr
- 在银行那儿 zài yínháng nàr
- 那儿银行在 nàr yínháng zài
- 银行那儿在 yínháng nàr zài
Show the answer
银行在那儿 yínháng zài nàr The thing, then 在, then the place.
往右拐 means
- turn right
- turn left
- go straight on
- go back
Show the answer
turn right Towards right, turn.
What does 很 do in 很近?
- links the adjective so it sounds finished
- means very, strongly
- makes it a question
- makes it past
Show the answer
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.
Show the answer
wǒ mílù le Literally I have lost the road.
哪儿 and 哪里 are
- northern and southern forms of the same word
- two different words
- formal and informal
- spoken and written
Show the answer
northern and southern forms of the same word Both are standard and both are understood everywhere.
走路十分钟 tells you
- it is ten minutes on foot
- it is ten o'clock
- walk ten metres
- ten people are walking
Show the answer
it is ten minutes on foot 走路 on foot, then the time it takes.
Question 1 of 8
Writing practice optional
Every character from today, in the order it came up. Watch it, trace it, then write it from memory.
Press Watch to see the stroke order.
Stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi via Hanzi Writer, Arphic Public License.
Character 1 of 32
This lesson is written by an English speaker who learned Mandarin as a second language, and it is waiting on a check by a native speaker. If you spot something off, please tell us and we will fix it.