Learn how to give simple directions to people
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| Welcome to Can Do Chinese by ChineseClass101.com. |
| 嗨大家好，我是殷如。 (Hài dà jiā hǎo, wǒ shì Yīnrú.) “Hi, everyone! My name is Yinru Li.” |
| In this lesson, we’ll talk about how to give simple directions in Chinese. |
| First, you’ll hear a dialogue. A student is asking for the directions to get to the library. I’m going to read the dialogue and while you’re listening, I want you to focus on the response on how the directions were given. |
| Ready? |
| 图书馆在哪里？ (Túshū guǎn zài nǎlǐ?) |
| 往前走。然后在路口右转。图书馆就在你的左边。(Wǎng qián zǒu. Ránhòu zài lùkǒu yòu zhuǎn. Túshūguǎn jiù zài nǐ de zuǒbiān.) |
| Okay, one more time, a bit slower. |
| 图书馆在哪里？ (Túshū guǎn zài nǎlǐ?) |
| 往前走。然后在路口右转。图书馆就在你的左边。(Wǎng qián zǒu. Ránhòu zài lùkǒu yòu zhuǎn. Túshūguǎn jiù zài nǐ de zuǒbiān.) |
| All right. Did you get what the directions were? Can you find the library? If not, don’t worry. We’ll go over the dialogue in one by one, line by line, okay. |
| First is our question. |
| 图书馆在哪里？ (Túshū guǎn zài nǎlǐ?) |
| This is asking, "Where is the library?" |
| Okay |
| 图书馆在哪里？ (Túshū guǎn zài nǎlǐ?) “Where is the library?” |
| Okay. So, this is a standard way to asking, to ask where some place is at, okay. First is the place you’re looking for and then 在哪里 (zài nǎlǐ) “at where.” |
| 图书馆在哪里？ (Túshū guǎn zài nǎlǐ?) |
| And then, let’s look at the response, okay. |
| And the response has three sentences, okay. |
| First sentence: |
| 往前走。(Wǎng qián zǒu.) |
| 往前走 (wǎng qián zǒu) means “go forward, go straight.” |
| 往前走 (wǎng qián zǒu) |
| 然后在路口右转。 (Ránhòu zài lùkǒu yòu zhuǎn.) |
| Literally it is “And then at intersection, right turn.” |
| 然后在路口右转。 (Ránhòu zài lùkǒu yòu zhuǎn.) |
| In English, in the English order, it will be, “And then turn right at the intersection.” |
| 然后在路口右转。 (Ránhòu zài lùkǒu yòu zhuǎn.) |
| Okay. And the last part. |
| 图书馆就在你的左边。 (Túshūguǎn jiù zài nǐ de zuǒbiān.) |
| 图书馆 (túshūguǎn) “library” |
| 就在 (jiù zài) means “right at” or “just at” or “on.” |
| 你的左边 (nǐ de zuǒbiān), in this case, it will be on, it will be “right on your left side,” which sounds a little confusing. Let’s say, “The library will be just on your left side,” right there on your left side, you won’t miss it. |
| 图书馆就在你的左边。 (Túshūguǎn jiù zài nǐ de zuǒbiān.) |
| Okay. Now, let’s see, let’s suppose we’re just walking on campus, trying to find the library, so let’s see if we can find it by following the directions, okay? So, you are here, you are this Person No. 1, Matchstick Man No. 1 and you’re here. And you want to find the library. Now, let’s follow the directions, see if we can get there, okay? |
| First step: 往前走。(Wǎng qián zǒu.) |
| So you’re here, 往前走 (wǎng qián zǒu), so it’s in this direction. |
| 往前...前...前...前...前 (Wǎng qián...qián ...qián ...qián ...qián) |
| By the way, in China, we walk or drive on the right side of the road, so we’re following the traffic rule and we’re going forward. |
| 往前走。(Wǎng qián zǒu.) |
| Okay. Now, we get to the intersection, 路口 (lùkǒu). |
| 然后在路口右转。 (Ránhòu zài lùkǒu yòu zhuǎn.) |
| So you need to turn right. |
| 右...右...右...右转...右 |
| (yòu...yòu...yòu...yòu zhuǎn...yòu) |
| Okay. And the third step is: |
| 图书馆就在你的左边。 (Túshūguǎn jiù zài nǐ de zuǒbiān.) |
| At that time, the library will be on your left side, so it looks like Location Number 1 should be the library. You got it, you found the library, 图书馆 (túshūguǎn). |
| Okay. So, the directions, one more time. |
| 往前走。然后在路口右转。图书馆就在你的左边。(Wǎng qián zǒu. Ránhòu zài lùkǒu yòu zhuǎn. Túshūguǎn jiù zài nǐ de zuǒbiān.) |
| Okay. So this is how we…we sort of follow the directions from this dialogue. |
| Next, let’s try to give directions. |
| So, let’s say there is a Matchstick Man No. 2. He’s asking for your help, and this person wants to get to 超市 (chāoshì), okay. |
| 超市 (chāoshì) means “supermarket.” |
| So, on this map, 超市 (chāoshì) is on Location No. 2 and our little guy, No. 2, is here. So how does he get to 超市 (chāoshì)? Let’s walk him together, okay. |
| First step, he needs to go right, 往右走 (wǎng yòu zǒu). |
| Okay, 右...右...右...右走 (yòu...yòu...yòu...yòu zǒu). |
| And, 然后在路口 (ránhòu zài lùkǒu) “at the intersection,” so if you’re, if he’s going this way, okay, at the intersection, to go there, he needs to turn right. So, 然后在路口右转 (Ránhòu zài lùkǒu yòu zhuǎn). |
| 图书就在你的左边。 (Túshū jiù zài nǐ de zuǒbiān.) |
| Okay. So all together. |
| 往右走。然后在路口右转。图书就在你的左边。 |
| (Wǎng yòu zǒu. Ránhòu zài lùkǒu yòu zhuǎn. Túshū jiù zài nǐ de zuǒbiān.) |
| That’s how you get to 超市 (chāoshì). |
| Okay. Let’s try one more. |
| We have a Matchstick Man No. 3 and this guy wants to go to a bank. |
| “Bank” is 银行 (yínháng). |
| 银行 (yínháng) |
| On this map, 银行 (yínháng) is Location No. 3. So, he is here and he wants to go here. So, how do we give him the directions to get there? |
| First step, 往左走。 (Wǎng zuǒ zǒu.) “He needs to go left.” |
| Okay, 左...左...左...左...左走 (zuǒ...zuǒ...zuǒ...zuǒ...zuǒ zǒu). |
| And he will also get to the intersection, 路口 (lùkǒu). |
| 然后在路口 (Ránhòu zài lùkǒu) “He needs to turn right.” |
| 然后在路口右转。 (Ránhòu zài lùkǒu yòu zhuǎn.) |
| 右...右...右...右...右... (yòu...yòu...yòu...yòu...yòu) |
| And, 银行就在你的左边。 (Yínháng jiù zài nǐ de zuǒbiān.) |
| Okay. So all together... |
| 往左走。(Wǎng zuǒ zǒu.) “Go left.” |
| 然后在路口右转。 (Ránhòu zài lùkǒu yòu zhuǎn.) “And then, turn right at the intersection.” |
| 银行就在你的左边。(Yínháng jiù zài nǐ de zuǒbiān.) “The bank is just on your left side.” |
| So, with all the three examples we have so far, we can come up with a pattern, okay, that will give you many more directions, okay? |
| We can also use three parts. |
| First part is “往 (wǎng) [DIRECTION] 走 (zǒu),” okay? |
| 往 (wǎng) |
| 往 (wǎng) means “toward,” okay? |
| 往 (wǎng) |
| And 走 (zǒu), in this case, means “go.” |
| 走 (zǒu) [enunciated] |
| 走 (zǒu) |
| And for the direction placeholder, we have, so far, we have 前 (qián). |
| 往前走。(Wǎng qián zǒu.) |
| 走 (qián) |
| 前 (qián) means “front” or “ahead.” |
| So, 往前 (wǎng qián), so it means “go forward,” go to that direction, 往前 (wǎng qián). |
| Okay |
| And we can also say: |
| 往左走 (wǎng zuǒ zǒu), means “go towards left.” |
| Or 往右走 (wǎng yòu zǒu) “go towards the right.” |
| Okay. That’s now the first part. |
| Our second part is: |
| 然后在路口 (Ránhòu zài lùkǒu) [RIGHT/LEFT] 转 (zhuǎn). |
| Okay, 然后 (ránhòu), first word, 然后 (ránhòu). |
| 然后 (ránhòu) is a conjunction word, meaning “and then.” |
| This is very useful. You’ll hear it a lot either in everyday conversations or formal language. |
| 然后 (ránhòu) “and then” |
| Next word is 在 (zài). |
| 在 (zài), in this case means “at” as in 在路口 (zài lùkǒu) “at the intersection.” |
| 在 (zài) |
| Okay. We know 路口 (lùkǒu) is “intersection.” |
| And this word, last word, 转 (zhuǎn). |
| 转 (zhuǎn) is a verb meaning “turn.” |
| 转 (zhuǎn) |
| So you can say: |
| 然后在路口右转。 (Ránhòu zài lùkǒu yòu zhuǎn.) |
| Or 然后在路口左转 (Ránhòu zài lùkǒu zuǒ zhuǎn). |
| Either turn right at the intersection or turn left at the intersection. |
| Okay, the third part: |
| [PLACE], the place you’re looking for. |
| So, and our last in our lesson, we’ve covered or we’ve talked about 图书馆 (túshūguǎn) "library." |
| 图书馆 (túshūguǎn) [enunciated] |
| 图书馆 (túshūguǎn) |
| And 超市 (chāoshì) “supermarket.” |
| 超市 (chāoshì) [enunciated] |
| 超市 (chāoshì) |
| And 银行 (yínháng) “bank.” |
| 银行 (yínháng) [enunciated] |
| 银行 (yínháng) |
| Okay. So we can use, we’ll put these places first, the place you’re looking for, and then 就 (jiù). |
| 就 (jiù) is an adverb that’s putting emphasis on what you’re saying. So, it can be loosely translated to “just” or “exactly,” “precisely,” okay. |
| And 就在 (jiù zài) will be “right at” or “right on” in this case. |
| 你的 (nǐ de) means “your.” |
| 你的 (nǐ de) |
| 边 (biān) means “side.” |
| 边 (biān) |
| So 你的右边 (nǐ de yòubiān) “your right side.” |
| Or 你的左边 (nǐ de zuǒbiān) “your left side.” |
| So, if I say, 就在你的左边 (jiù zài nǐ de zuǒbiān) or 就在你的右边 (jiù zài nǐ de yòubiān), it’s putting more emphasis like you won’t miss it, it’s right there. |
| [PLACE] 就在你的右边 (jiù zài nǐ de yòubiān) |
| Or [PLACE] 就在你的左边 (jiù zài nǐ de zuǒbiān). |
| All right. Now, let’s try to use this pattern on giving directions to another place. |
| Let’s say you’re looking for or you’re giving directions to a “coffee shop” 咖啡店 (kāfēi diàn), okay. |
| 咖啡店 (kāfēi diàn) |
| How do you get to the coffee shop? |
| First, you go left. |
| And then, at the intersection, we’ll turn right. |
| “Coffee shop” 咖啡店 (kāfēi diàn) is just on your right side. |
| So, how do you say that? |
| 往左走。 (Wǎng zuǒ zǒu.) |
| 然后在路口右转。(Ránhòu zài lùkǒu yòu zhuǎn.) |
| 咖啡店就在你的右边。 (Kāfēi diàn jiù zài nǐ de yòubiān.) |
| There you have it! |
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