Chinese For Dummies (120 page)

So, for example, to tell you that the bus stop is outside, someone may say any of the following sentences:

Chūzū qìchēzhàn zài wàibiān.
出租汽车站在外边
. (
出租汽車站在外邊
.) (choo-dzoo chee-chuh-jahn dzye why-byan.) (
The bus stop is outside.
)

Chūzū qìchēzhàn zài wàimiàn.
出租汽车站在外面
. (
出租汽車站在外面
). (choo-dzoo chee-chuh-jahn dzye why-myan.) (
The bus stop is outside.
)

Chūzū qìchēzhànzài wàitóu.
出租汽车站在外头
. (
出租汽車站在外頭
.) (choo-dzoo chee-chuh-jahn-dzye why-toe.) (
The bus stop is outside.
)

Sometimes the situation may require a more complex location expression, such as when your friendly direction-giver doesn't want to simply note where something is. Perhaps your helper wants to tell you where a certain action should take place. For example, if he or she wants to say
Please
turn left in front of the school.,
here's what you'll hear:

Qǐng nǐ zài xuéxiào qiánbiān wǎng zuǒ zhuǎn.
请你在学校前边往左转
. (
請你在學校前邊往左轉
.)
(cheeng nee dzye shweh-shyaow chyan-byan wahng dzwaw jwan.) (
Please turn left in front of the school.
)

Qǐng nǐ zài xuéxiào qiánmiàn wǎng zuǒ zhuǎn.
请你在学校前面往左转
. (
請你在學校前面往左轉
.)
(cheeng nee dzye shweh-shyaow chyan-myan wahng dzwaw jwan.) (
Please turn left in front of the school.
)

Qǐng nǐ zài xuéxiào qiántóu wǎng zuǒ zhuǎn.
请你在学校前头往左转
. (
請你在學校前頭往左轉
.)
(cheeng nee dzye shweh-shyaow chyan-toe wahng dzwaw jwan.) (
Please turn left in front of the school.
)

In such cases, the verb
děng
等
(dung) (
to wait
) comes after the specified location
(xuéxiào qiánmiàn).
Here are some other examples:

Zài túshūguǎn qiántóu děng .
在图书馆前头等
. (
在圖書館前頭等
.)
(dzye too-shoo-gwahn chyan-toe dung.) (
Wait in front of the library.
)

Zài wūzi lǐ wàibiān děng.
在屋子里外边等
. (
在屋子理外邊等
.)
(dzye woo-dzuh lee why-byan dung.) (
Wait outside the room.
)

Zài xuéxiào hòumiàn děng.
在学校后面等
. (
在學校後面等
.)
(dzye shweh-shyaow ho-myan dung.) (
Wait in back of the school.
)

Talkin' the Talk

Corey asks Casey for directions in Tainan. He wants to get to the post office. (Track 25)

Corey:

Qǐngwèn, Casey, yóujú zài nǎr?

cheeng-one, Casey, yo-jyew dzye nar?

Excuse me, Casey, where's the post office?

Casey:

Yóujú jiù zài yínháng duìmiàn. Guò liǎng tiáo lù jiù shì.

yo-jyew jyo dzye een-hahng dway-myan. gwaw lyahng tyaow loo jyo shir.

The post office is right opposite the bank. If you go two more blocks, it's right there.

Corey:

Xièxiè. Qù yóujú zěnme zǒu?

shyeh-shyeh. chyew yo-jyew dzummuh dzoe?

Thank you. How should I walk to the post office?

Casey:

Wàng nán zǒu. Yìzhí zǒu jiù dào le.

wahng nahn dzoe. ee-jir dzoe jyoe daow luh.

Walk south. Go straight, and you'll see it.

Expressing Distances (Time and Space) with Lí

Even though you can use the
cóng . . . dào
pattern to literally say
from here to there
(
cóng zhèr dào nàr
从这儿到那儿
[
從這兒到那兒
]) (tsoong jar daow nar) when you want to indicate the distance from one place to another, you need to use the “distance from” coverb
lí
离
(
離
) (lee)
.
The general sentence pattern looks something like this:

Place word +
lí
+ place word + description of the distance

For example

Gōngyuán lí túshūguǎn hěn jìn.
公园离图书馆很近
. (
公園離圖書館很近
.)
(goong-ywan lee too-shoo-gwan hun jeen.) (
The park is very close to the library.
)

Wǒ jiā lí nǐ jiā tǐng yuǎn.
我家离你家挺远
. (
我家離你家挺遠
.)
(waw jyah lee nee jyah teeng ywan.) (
My home is really far from your home.
)

If you want to specify exactly how far one place is from another, you use the number of
lǐ
里
(lee) (the Chinese equivalent of a kilometer) followed by the word
lǐ
and then the word
lù
è·¯
(loo) (Literally:
road
). Whether you say
sì lǐ lù
四里路
(suh lee loo) (
4 kilometers
),
bā lǐ lù
八里路
(bah lee loo) (
8 kilometers
), or
èrshísān lǐ lù
二十三里路
(are-shir-sahn lee loo) (
23 kilometers
), people know the exact distance when you use this pattern. You also have to use the word
yǒu
有
(yo) (
to have
) before the number of kilometers. If the answer includes an adjectival verb such as
yuǎn
远
(
遠
) (ywan) (
far
) or
jìn
近
(jin) (
close
) rather than a numerical distance, however, you don't need to specify the number of kilometers or use the word
yǒu.
(Count on
Chapter 5
for information on Chinese numbers.)

Check out the following sample questions and answers that use these patterns:

Gōngyuán lí túshūguǎn duōme yuǎn?
公园离图书馆多么远
? (
公園離圖書館多麼遠
?) (goong-ywan lee too-shoo-gwahn dwaw-muh ywan?) (
How far is the park from the library?
)

Gōngyuán lí túshūguǎn yǒu bā lǐ lù.
公园离图书馆有八里路
. (
公園離圖書館有八里路
.) (goong-ywan lee too-shoo-gwahn yo bah lee loo.) (
The park is eight kilometers from the library.)

Yíngháng lí nǐ jiā duōme jìn?
银行离你家多么近
? (
銀行離你家多麼進
?) (eeng-hahng lee nee jyah dwaw-muh jin?) (
How close is the bank from your home?
)

Hěn jìn. Zhǐ yī lǐ lù.
很近
.
只一里路
. (hun jin. jir ee lee loo.) (
Very close. Just one kilometer.
)

You may have some other questions when you inquire about locations and distances:

Yào duō cháng shíjiān?
要多长时间
? (
要多長時間
?) (yaow dwaw chahng shir-jyan?) (
How long will it take?
)

Zǒu de dào ma?
走得到吗
? (
走得到嗎
?) (dzoe duh daow mah?) (
Can I walk there?
)

Zǒu de dào, zǒu bú dào?
走得到走不到
? (dzoe duh daow, dzoe boo daow?) (
Can one walk there?
)

To indicate whether something is likely to happen or unlikely to be attained, the pattern you use includes
potential complements.
You use potential complements by putting the word
de
得
(duh) or
bù
不
(boo) between the verb and the complement to indicate whether a positive or negative potential is involved, respectively.