Lesson 5: Directions and Locations (方向和位置)

Lesson 5: Directions and Locations

You leave a subway station to meet a friend at a bookstore. Knowing the word “left” is not enough: left depends on which way you face, a nearby place may still be hard to find, and “at the intersection” differs from “past the intersection.” This lesson helps you ask a useful question and follow the answer one step at a time.

You already know simple 在 location phrases, 有 questions, numbers, time expressions and shop names. We will connect them into locations, distances and routes. The town and all travel times below are fictional practice examples. Keep the earlier dictionary-tone pinyin convention; actual pronunciation can include tone changes.

1. Separate compass direction from your viewpoint

On a north-up map, north is at the top and east at the right. On the street, your right is east only when you face north. If you face south, your right is west. A turning instruction follows the traveler's viewpoint, not the page's permanent left and right.

Compound compass directions put east or west first: 东北 — dōngběi is northeast, 东南 — dōngnán southeast, 西北 — xīběi northwest and 西南 — xīnán southwest. You can remember 东、南、西、北 by moving clockwise from east on a north-up map. That is a memory aid, not a requirement that every list or map use this order.

For spatial descriptions, longer forms are useful: 左边 — zuǒbiān, left side; 右边 — yòubiān, right side; 前面 — qiánmiàn, in front/ahead; 后面 — hòumiàn, behind. 北 and 左 have third-tone base forms, often realized low in connected speech. For pronunciation, use the audio pinyin chart linked in lesson 1 rather than treating an English spelling as an exact sound.

2. Put the reference place before its position word

The reference comes first: 银行旁边 is beside the bank; 楼里面 is inside the building. A basic location statement is A + 在 + location:

书店在银行旁边。— Shūdiàn zài yínháng pángbiān.
The bookstore is beside the bank.

Here 在 functions as the main verb, “be located at.” In 我在书店看书, I read at the bookstore, 在书店 gives the location for the action 看书. You do not need to memorize the grammatical labels to use the contrast: locate a thing versus say where an action happens.

With these longer position words, 的 is often optional:

银行在邮局旁边。 / 银行在邮局的旁边。
The bank is beside the post office.

Both are grammatical. Likewise 学校北边 and 学校的北边 can mean north of the school. Omitting 的 does not automatically make the relationship ambiguous or the sentence informal. For the common short construction, learn 桌子上, on the table, and 楼里, inside the building, directly; do not insert 的 mechanically before every short position word.

书在桌子上。— Shū zài zhuōzi shàng. — The book is on the table. Here 桌子 — zhuōzi means table. 上面 can mean “on” or “above” in different contexts; it does not always guarantee contact with the reference object.

To identify a middle position, give both references:

餐厅在银行和书店中间。— Cāntīng zài yínháng hé shūdiàn zhōngjiān.
The restaurant is between the bank and the bookstore.

银行和书店的中间 is also possible. 和 connects the two reference places. Saying something is 附近 only says it is nearby; it does not specify beside, opposite or between.

Landmarks to recognize

十字 describes the cross shape of 十; 路口 is a road opening or junction. 十字路口 is specifically a crossroads, while 路口 is broader. 红绿灯 contains red + green + light; the name does not mean a traffic signal can display only those two colors. 楼 — lóu and 路 — lù differ in their vowel sounds as well as their tones.

3. Choose the question you actually need

请问 — qǐngwèn introduces a question politely: “May I ask…?” Other courteous openers can work too; 请问 is a useful phrase to practice, not the only polite way to speak to a stranger.

Read them as Qǐngwèn, yínháng zài nǎr?; Zhè fùjìn yǒu yínháng ma?; Dìtiězhàn zěnme zǒu?; Lí zhèr yuǎn ma?; and Zǒulù yào duō cháng shíjiān?

在, 有 and 离 answer different questions

银行在前面。— Yínháng zài qiánmiàn. locates the bank ahead.
前面有银行。— Qiánmiàn yǒu yínháng. says there is a bank ahead.
银行离这儿很近。— Yínháng lí zhèr hěn jìn. says the bank is close to here.

In the last pattern, A + 离 + B + distance description, 离 introduces the reference point for distance. It is not a general substitute for every English “from.” Compare 从地铁站出来, come out of the subway station, later in this lesson.

近 — jìn is near; 远 — yuǎn is far. 不远 — bù yuǎn means not far; 不太远 — bù tài yuǎn means not very far; 有点儿远 — yǒudiǎnr yuǎn means a bit far. 很近 can mean close in a plain description or very close with emphasis. Nearness is contextual, not an exact distance in meters.

Where, here and there

哪儿 — nǎr / 哪里 — nǎli means where. 这儿 — zhèr / 这里 — zhèlǐ means here, and 那儿 — nàr / 那里 — nàlǐ means there. Compare 银行在哪儿？, Where is the bank?, with 银行在那儿。, The bank is there. You can also ask 银行在那儿吗？, Is the bank there? A demonstrative can occur in a question; it simply does not ask for an unknown location the way 哪儿 does.

4. Follow a route in order

往 means toward; 往左转 and 向左转 are alternatives to 左转. In 一直, written yī here, 一 is normally pronounced yì before second-tone zhí. 过 identifies passing or crossing a landmark; 到 identifies reaching an endpoint. At a traffic light and after passing it are different instructions.

先往前走，然后左转。— Xiān wǎng qián zǒu, ránhòu zuǒ zhuǎn.
First go forward, then turn left.

先…再… can also sequence actions: 先往前走，再左转. 再 is not limited to “again”; here it introduces the next action. For longer directions, listen for the landmark that tells you when to turn.

到第二个路口右转。— Dào dì-èr ge lùkǒu yòu zhuǎn.
Turn right when you reach the second junction.

第 — dì marks order: 第一个, first; 第二个, second; 第三个, third. Use 第二个, not 第两个. With streets, a useful counted phrase is 第二条街 — dì-èr tiáo jiē, the second street.

过了超市以后，左转。— Guò le chāoshì yǐhòu, zuǒ zhuǎn.
After you pass the supermarket, turn left.

Here 以后 — yǐhòu means after. The passing is completed before the turn, even though both actions may still be in the future. 了 is not an English past-tense ending. A simpler instruction is 过超市，然后左转.

从地铁站出来，然后左转。— Cóng dìtiězhàn chūlái, ránhòu zuǒ zhuǎn.
Come out of the subway station, then turn left.

出 — chū means exit; 从 introduces the starting place here. Include the second instruction: “exit the station” by itself does not tell the listener to turn left.

5. Give a useful estimate and identify the building

走路 — zǒulù means walk/on foot. 分钟 — fēnzhōng counts minutes of duration, unlike 点 for a clock hour in lesson 3.

走路大概要十分钟。— Zǒulù dàgài yào shí fēnzhōng.
It takes about ten minutes on foot.

走路十分钟左右。— Zǒulù shí fēnzhōng zuǒyòu.
About a ten-minute walk.

大概 — dàgài comes before the estimate and 左右 — zuǒyòu after it. Either can express approximation; you need not use both. 左右 after a quantity means “or so,” not an instruction to turn left and right. 要 — yào means need/take here, rather than wanting an item as in 我要两本书.

一直走大概三分钟就到了。— Yīzhí zǒu dàgài sān fēnzhōng jiù dào le.
Keep walking straight for about three minutes and you'll arrive.

In this direction-giving context, 就到了 presents the arrival that follows the walk. It does not mean the traveler has already arrived. 你会看见银行在左边, you will see the bank on the left, uses 会 — huì for a predicted outcome and 看见 — kànjiàn for see. These are helpful alternatives, not words required in every route.

A building number is not a floor number

我住在三楼。— Wǒ zhù zài sān lóu. — I live on the third floor.

This is a complete, grammatical sentence. 住 — zhù means live/reside. To identify a building in a sequence, use 栋 — dòng:

第三栋楼 — dì-sān dòng lóu — the third building
第三栋楼的三楼 — dì-sān dòng lóu de sān lóu — the third floor of the third building

层 — céng counts floors/storeys: 三层楼 can describe three storeys, while 第三层 explicitly identifies the third level. 三楼 is the everyday floor label “third floor.” Follow the building's signs when navigating; a floor label and the number of storeys are different information. 出口 — chūkǒu means exit, as in A出口, Exit A.

6. Read a map, then give the route

This is a fictional north-up grid. Each cell is a location connected by a small street to its immediate horizontal and vertical neighbors. North is up, west is left and east is right. The grid establishes relative position, not measured distance or real city geography.

公园 — gōngyuán means park. Read the middle row: 银行在邮局和书店中间, the bank is between the post office and bookstore. Read the east column: 咖啡店在书店北边, the café is north of the bookstore. These compass statements do not depend on which way a traveler faces.

From the subway station to the bookstore

Start at the subway station, facing east. For this route, take the streets through the junction and the bank:

A: 请问，书店怎么走？
Qǐngwèn, shūdiàn zěnme zǒu?
Excuse me, how do I get to the bookstore?

B: 先往东走到路口，然后左转，往北走到银行。在银行那儿右转，书店就在前面。
Xiān wǎng dōng zǒu dào lùkǒu, ránhòu zuǒ zhuǎn, wǎng běi zǒu dào yínháng. Zài yínháng nàr yòu zhuǎn, shūdiàn jiù zài qiánmiàn.
First go east to the junction, then turn left and go north to the bank. Turn right at the bank; the bookstore is ahead.

A: 走路要多长时间？
Zǒulù yào duō cháng shíjiān?
How long does it take on foot?

B: 大概五分钟。
Dàgài wǔ fēnzhōng.
About five minutes.

A: 谢谢！
Xièxie!
Thank you!

Check the turns: facing east, left takes you north; facing north, right takes you east. There are three walking segments and two turns. If the fictional segment estimates are 2, 1 and 2 minutes, their total is 2 + 1 + 2 = 5 minutes. You cannot derive those minutes from grid spacing alone.

7. Check meaning before memorizing the wording

1. In the map's middle row, what is between the post office and bookstore?
2. Starting at the subway station and facing east, which way do you turn at the junction to reach the bank?
3. Ask whether there is a restaurant nearby, then ask how to get there.
4. Say the bookstore is inside the building. Give a short version using 里.
5. Say the school is not far from your home.
6. Give a five-minute walking estimate using 大概, then using 左右.
7. Describe the reverse route from the bookstore to the subway station through the bank and junction. State your initial facing direction.

Possible answers: 1. 银行; 2. 左转, turning north; 3. 附近有餐厅吗？餐厅怎么走？; 4. 书店在楼里; 5. 学校离我家不远; 6. 走路大概五分钟 / 走路五分钟左右. For 7, begin facing west: walk to the bank, turn left to go south to the junction, then turn right to go west to the subway station.

You can now connect a place, a viewpoint, a landmark and the next action. Practice with a real map only after checking its orientation and current routes. For exam preparation, use the official HSK resources to check the syllabus for your particular test; this lesson does not certify an exam level or a current transit route.