Hover a line for its pinyin and translation; hover a word for its meaning. Tap 🔊 to hear it.
Alex is lost near the city centre and stops a passer-by.
哪儿 and 哪里 are the same word. 哪儿 is the northern pronunciation, heard constantly in Beijing where this course is set; 哪里 is standard everywhere and is what you will mostly see written. Use either — nobody will blink. 慢走 literally says “walk slowly”, and it is what a shopkeeper, a host or a helpful stranger says as you leave. It is not advice about your pace, and there is no natural English equivalent, so learn it whole. One more on politeness: 太谢谢您了 is warmer than a plain 谢谢, and the 您 is doing real work with a stranger who has just gone out of their way for you.
How do I read these pronunciations? See the pronunciation guide.
1. 在 — where something is
在 is a verb in its own right, meaning “to be located at”, and it does the whole job on its own. 车站在前面 needs no 是 and no second verb. Do not pair them: 车站是在前面 is the mistake an English speaker makes by translating “is” and “at” separately.
2. 哪儿 — question words stay put
This is one of the kindest things about Chinese. Put the question word exactly where the answer would go and change nothing else: 车站在前面 becomes 车站在哪儿？ Same order, same everything. English has to haul “where” to the front and invert the verb. Note also that no 吗 is added — a question word already asks the question, and the two never appear together.
3. 前面, 后面, 旁边 — place words follow the landmark
Chinese names the landmark first and the relationship second: 车站前面 is “station-front”, meaning in front of the station. That is the reverse of English, and reversing it back is the commonest error in this lesson. The set worth learning now: 前面 in front, 后面 behind, 旁边 beside, 对面 opposite, 里面 inside, 上面 on top.
4. 往 + direction + verb
往 marks which way, and like every Chinese preposition it comes before the verb, not after it: 往前走, 往右拐, 往左走. English says “go straight”, putting the direction last; Chinese says “toward-front go”. Accept that prepositional phrases lead and a great deal of word order stops being surprising.
A. Fill in the Blank · 填空
Fill in the blank with a word from this lesson's vocabulary.
- 1.车站哪儿？is located at
- 2.一直前走。toward
- 3.银行在车站。in front of
- 4.走路五。minutes
B. Multiple Choice · 选择
Choose the best answer.
- 1.How do you ask where the station is?
- 2.Which is correct?
- 3.Why is there no 吗 in 车站在哪儿？
- 4.What does 慢走 mean here?
C. Rearrange the Sentence · 排序
Rearrange the words into a correct sentence, adding the punctuation shown in parentheses.
- 1.Tap tiles below…
- 2.Tap tiles below…
- 3.Tap tiles below…
- 4.Tap tiles below…
D. True or False · 判断
Based on the dialogue, mark each sentence T (true) or F (false).
- 1.Alex should go straight ahead first.
- 2.Alex should turn left at the traffic light.
- 3.The station is a long way off.
- 4.The bank is in front of the station.
E. Matching · 连线
Match each line on the left with the best response on the right.
F. Translation · 翻译
Translate items 1–2 into Chinese, and items 3–4 into English.
- 1.Where is the station?
- 2.The bank is in front of the station.
- 3.一直往前走。
- 4.不远。走路五分钟。
Generate a brand-new dialog on any topic, using this lesson's 21 vocab words — plus any words you add below.
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North, not left
Directions in China are often given by compass rather than by hand: 往北走, go north, where an English speaker would say turn left. This is strongest in Beijing, whose old city sits on a strict north–south grid, so north is always the same direction while left depends on which way you happen to be facing. Buildings are described the same way — the north gate, the east side of the road. The fixed set is 东西南北, east-west-south-north, which is not the order English puts them in. Checking a compass is not cheating.