Chinese Language Learning Program Lesson 139 – The prepositions in Chinese (I)

Chinese Language Learning Program

Lesson 139 –The prepositions in Chinese (I)

Hello, everyone. Welcome back. This is Baixue’s Chinese Language Learning Program. Last time we talked about a tongue twister to practice how to pronounce “en,eng,ang,ong” in Chinese. Today, we will talk about the prepositions in Chinese.

jiè cí

介词 (preposition)

A preposition is a word that can be put before a pronoun or a noun to form a prepositional phrase indicating direction, place, time, reason, manner, object, the passive, comparison and exclusion, etc.  For example:

1.   Indicating direction, place and time:

cóng 　                         xiàng 　                wǎng 　

   从 (from, through)　 向 (towards)　　  往 (toward, to)　

 lí 　                     zài

离 (away, off)　  在 (at；during；On；under)

1)   yī shù yào yǎn de yang guāng cóng mén kǒu

      一  束   耀    眼   的    阳       光        从     门     口

      zhào shè jìn lái.

         照     射  进  来。

      (A brilliant shaft of sunlight burst through the doorway.)

2)   wǒ men yào xiàng xìng fú jìn fā.

我    们     要    向      幸   福  进 发。

(We need to walk towards happiness.)

3)   tā  kāi shǐ yán zhe dǒu qiào de shān lù wǎng

她  开   始   沿    着   陡    峭    的    山   路    往

shàng pá.

    上     爬。(She began to climb up the steep mountain.)

4)   xiàn zài wǒ men zhù dé lí shì zhōng xīn gèng yuǎn le.

  现   在   我   们     住  得离  市     中     心     更      远   了。

(Now we live further away from the city centre.)

5)   tā jīn tiān zài jiā.

他今   天    在 家。(He is at home today.)

2.   Indicating reason:

 wèi               wèi le                               yóu yú

 为 (for)         为  了(for, in order to)    由  于(because, due to)

1)   wǒ yǒng yuǎn wàng bù liǎo nǐ wèi wǒ men suǒ

       我　永      远      忘    不   了  你  为   我    们     所

      zuò de yī qiè.

        做  的 一  切。

      (I will never forget what you did for us.)

2)   mā mā zuò zhè xiē dōu shì wèi le wǒ men.

       妈   妈   做   这   些   都    是  为  了 我    们。

   (What Mom did is all for us.)

3)   yóu yú jiàn kāng wèn tí tā bù dé bù tuì xiū.

      由  于  健      康    问  题 他 不 得  不  退  休。

  (He was forced to retire because of his health.)

3.   Indicating manner:

àn zhào                              gēn jù

 按　照  (according to)     根  据  (according, based, Under)    

1)   àn zhào guī dìng, chǎng nèi bù zhǔn yǐn jiǔ.

      按　照     规    定，    场     内  不    准    饮  酒。

     (According to the rules, no alcohol is allowed in this place.)

2)   lǎo shī cháng gēn jù qí mò kǎo shì lái píng jià

       老   师     常      根  据 期 末   考    试  来   评   价

tā men de xué shēng.

      他   们  的   学      生。

      (Teachers always judge their students based on the final

        examination.)

4.   Indicating object:

gēn                 duì            gěi

  跟 (with)        对 (to)        给 (for, to, by)

duì yú

  对 于 (for, to, about, toward)

guān yú                                             lián

   关   于(about, relating, as for)      连 (including)

1)  wǒ jué de nǐ gāi gēn tā tán tán le.

      我   觉  得 你  该   跟  他  谈  谈  了。

      (I think you should talk with him.)

2)   duì kùn nàn bù néng qū fú.

        对  困    难  不    能    屈  服。

      (Never yield to difficulties.)

3)   néng bǎ nà běn shū dì gěi wǒ ma?

         能   把  那  本     书 递   给  我  吗？

      (Could you please pass that book to me?)

4)   duì yú wǒ men lái shuō, jiàn kāng shì fēi cháng

        对 于  我    们   来    说， 健      康    是 非     常

      zhòng yào de.

         重      要  的。

      (Health is very important for all of us.)　

5)   zhè ge bàn gōng shì lián wǒ gong yǒu 10 rén.

  这  个   办     公    室   连   我    共     有    10  人。

      (There are ten people in this office including me.)

5.   Indicating the passive:

bèi                                    jiào            gěi

 被 (was, be, been, is)    叫 (by)      给(by)

1)   tā bèi xuǎn wèi bān zhǎng le.

她 被     选    为   班       长   了。

(She was elected as a class present.)

2)   tā jiào yǔ lín le.

她  叫  雨  淋 了。(She was caught in the rain.)

3)   yáng gěi láng chī le.

            羊    给   狼    吃 了。(The sheep was eaten by the wolf.)

6.   Indicating comparison:

bǐ                          gēn

比 (than, to)          跟 (with, as)

1)   tā de zì xiě de bǐ wǒ hǎo.

她 的 字 写  得 比  我   好。

(Her handwriting is better than mine.)

2)   tā dài wǒ gēn dài tā nǚ'ér yī yàng.

她 待   我   跟   待  她 女 儿 一   样。

(She treats me like her daughter.)

7.   Indicating exclusion:

chú                                  chú le     

  除 (except; besides)   除  了(except ； besides)

1)   chú xīng qí tiān wài, tā měi tiān dū gōng zuò.

  除    星  期   天   外,  她  每   天   都     工    作。

(He works every day except Sunday.)

2)   chú le yīng yǔ, tā hái yào xué dé yǔ hé fǎ yǔ.

   除了  英    语, 她  还   要    学  德  语 和 法 语。

          (Besides English, she has to study German and French.)

Ok, that is all for today. Next time we will talk about the grammatical features and functions of the prepositions.

xiè  xiè!

 谢   谢 ! (Thanks!)

xià  cì  jiàn

 下  次  见!  (See you next time!)