Learn how to use the preposition 往, meaning "towards," to give directions
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| INTRODUCTION |
| DAVID: Welcome to ChineseClass101.com. I’m David. |
| Amber: 大家好，我是安伯。(Dàjiā hǎo, wǒ shì ān bó.) |
| DAVID: And we’re here today with Upper Beginner, Season 1, Lesson 1 - Chinese traffic chaos. |
| Amber: 中国交通乱像。(Zhōngguó jiāotōng luàn xiàng.) |
| DAVID: Right. So we have a lesson all about the chaos there’s out there on the roads. |
| Amber: 对。(Duì.) |
| DAVID: Amber, where does this lesson take place? |
| Amber: 唔，发生在出租车里。(Wú, fāshēng zài chūzū chē lǐ.) |
| DAVID: Right. So it’s in a cab and our dialogue is between a passenger and a taxi driver. |
| Amber: 對。(Duì.) |
| DAVID: And they are speaking causal Chinese as always. |
| Amber: 没错，我们一起来听对话吧！(Méi cuò, wǒmen yī qǐlái tīng duìhuà ba!) |
| DIALOGUE |
| A: 往前走3个路口。(Wǎng qián zǒu sān gè lùkǒu.) |
| B: 左转还是右转？(Zuǒzhuǎn háishì yòuzhuǎn?) |
| A: 右转。(Yòuzhuǎn.) |
| B: 到红绿灯吗？(Dào hónglǜdēng ma?) |
| A: 不不，到天桥。(Bù bù, dào tiānqiáo.) |
| A: Go straight for three intersections. |
| B: Turn left or turn right? |
| A: Turn right. |
| B: (walk) To the traffic light? |
| A: No, to the overpass. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| DAVID: So, this lesson is about chaos in traffic in china. |
| Amber: 没错, 混乱的中国交通。(Méi cuò, hǔnluàn de zhōngguó jiāotōng.) |
| DAVID: Yes. Well, more precisely, it’s about how to avoid it by telling the cabbie where you want to go. |
| Amber: 没错, 打车的时候可以用。(Méi cuò, dǎchē de shíhòu kěyǐ yòng.) |
| DAVID: Yeah. Or you could use it when you’re just walking around. |
| Amber: 当然，走路也可以用。(Dāngrán, zǒulù yě kěyǐ yòng.) |
| DAVID: Right. It’s giving instructions, giving directions or getting them. |
| Amber: 对。(Duì.) |
| DAVID: Anyway, let’s get on to our vocab for today. |
| Amber: Uhmm, 不太难。(Bù tài nán.) |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Amber:往前。(wǎngqián.) |
| DAVID: Forward. |
| Amber: 往 前, 往前, 往后。(wǎngqián, wǎngqián, wǎnghòu.) |
| DAVID: Backward. |
| Amber: 往 后, 往后, 左转。(wǎnghòu, wǎnghòu, zuǒzhuǎn.) |
| DAVID: To turn left. |
| Amber: 左 转, 左转, 右转。(zuǒzhuǎn, zuǒzhuǎn, yòuzhuǎn.) |
| DAVID: To turn right. |
| Amber: 右 转, 右转, 目的地。(yòuzhuǎn, yòuzhuǎn, mùdìdì.) |
| DAVID: Destination. |
| Amber: 目 的 地, 目的地, 路口。(mùdìdì, mùdìdì, lùkǒu.) |
| DAVID: Intersection. |
| Amber: 路 口, 路口, 红绿灯。(lùkǒu, lùkǒu, hónglǜdēng.) |
| DAVID: Traffic light. |
| Amber: 红 绿 灯, 红绿灯, 天桥。(hónglǜdēng, hónglǜdēng, tiānqiáo.) |
| DAVID: Overpass. |
| Amber: 天 桥, 天桥。(tiānqiáo, tiānqiáo.) |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| DAVID: Let’s have a closer look at some of these words. First let’s talk about directions. Like… |
| Amber: 往前。(wǎngqián.) |
| DAVID: Forward. |
| Amber: 往前。(wǎngqián.) |
| DAVID: Forward. |
| Amber: 这个词的反义词是往后。(Zhège cí de fǎnyìcí shì wǎng hòu.) |
| DAVID: Backwards. |
| Amber: 往后。(wǎnghòu.) |
| DAVID: Literally, “towards the rear”. |
| Amber: Right. |
| DAVID: So we have “towards to front”. |
| Amber: 往前。 (wǎngqián.) |
| DAVID: And “towards the rear”. |
| Amber: 往后, 你可以往前走，或者往后走。(wǎnghòu, Nǐ kěyǐ wǎng qián zǒu, Huòzhě wǎng hòu zǒu.) |
| DAVID: Right. You can “walk forward”. |
| Amber: 往前走。(Wǎng qián zǒu.) |
| DAVID: Or “walk backwards”. |
| Amber: 往后走。(Wǎng hòu zǒu.) |
| DAVID: In addition to “forwards’ and “backwards”, we also have… |
| Amber: 左转。(Zuǒ zhuǎn.) |
| DAVID: To turn left. |
| Amber:左转。(Zuǒ zhuǎn.) |
| DAVID: And… |
| Amber: 右转。(yòuzhuǎn.) |
| DAVID: To turn right. |
| Amber: 右转。(yòuzhuǎn.) |
| DAVID: Right. |
| Amber: 左转 , 右转。(zuǒzhuǎn, yòuzhuǎn.) |
| DAVID: That's “turn left”, “turn right”. And if you are in a cab, you can give directions this way. |
| Amber: 师傅，路口 左转。(Shīfù, Lùkǒu zuǒ zhuǎn.) |
| DAVID: That’s telling the driver to turn left at the intersection. |
| Amber: 对, 你也可以说 师傅路口右转。(Duì, nǐ yě kěyǐ shuō shīfù lùkǒu yòu zhuǎn.) |
| DAVID: If you wanted to turn right. So here are four directions. |
| Amber: 往前, 往后, 左转, 右转。(wǎngqián, wǎnghòu, zuǒzhuǎn, yòuzhuǎn.) |
| DAVID: Now, this isn’t just left and right. This is when you’re giving directions to someone and you’re saying you need to move in a certain direction. |
| Amber: 对。(Duì.) |
| DAVID: Ok, in addition to directions, we also need to talk about destinations. |
| Amber: 你的目的地。(Nǐ de mùdì de.) |
| DAVID: Right. That’s the word for “destination”. |
| Amber: 目的地。(mùdìdì.) |
| DAVID: And we have a few words you can use to point out your destination. |
| Amber: 第一个 路口。(Dì yī gè lùkǒu.) |
| DAVID: Intersection. |
| Amber: 路口。(Lùkǒu.) |
| DAVID: As in “Driver, turn right at the intersection”. |
| DAVID: 师傅, 路口右转。(Shīfù, Lùkǒu yòu zhuǎn.) |
| DAVID: Right. We also have “red light”. |
| Amber: 红绿灯。 (hónglǜdēng.) |
| DAVID: It’s literally “red-green light”. |
| Amber: 对，红绿灯 。(Duì, hónglǜdēng.) |
| DAVID: Right. And that’s pretty much the same as an intersection. The next one is different though, it’s an “overhead bridge”. |
| Amber: 天桥。(tiānqiáo.) |
| DAVID: “A bridge” or “an overpass”. |
| Amber: 天桥。(tiānqiáo.) |
| DAVID: And these are pedestrian bridges that cross major roads in China. |
| Amber: 啊！对，没错。(A! Duì, méicuò.) |
| DAVID: So you can say to the driver, “Driver, stop off at the overpass.” |
| Amber: 师傅，天桥停车。(Shīfù, Tiānqiáo tíngchē.) |
| DAVID: Right or “My destination is that bridge”. |
| Amber: 我的目的地是 哪个天桥。(Wǒ de mùdì de shì nǎge tiānqiáo.) |
| DAVID: Right. So that’s our vocab section for directions. |
| Amber: 往前, 往后, 左转, 右转。(wǎngqián, wǎnghòu, zuǒzhuǎn, yòuzhuǎn.) |
| DAVID: And three destinations. |
| Amber: 路口, 红绿灯 , 天桥。(lùkǒu, hónglǜdēng, tiānqiáo.) |
| DAVID: Ok, and with that, let’s get to our grammar section. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| M2: It’s grammar time! |
| DAVID: Our grammar point today is talking about this preposition. |
| Amber: 往。(Wǎng.) |
| DAVID: Towards. |
| Amber: 往。(Wǎng.) |
| DAVID: Towards. |
| Amber:在中文中，置词在动词之前。(Zài zhōngwén zhōng, Zhì cí zài dòngcí zhīqián.) |
| DAVID: Right. Prepositions come before verbs. So we say, “towards the left to go”. |
| Amber: 往左走。(Wǎng zuǒ zǒu.) |
| DAVID: Towards. |
| Amber: 往。(Wǎng.) |
| DAVID: The left. |
| Amber: 左。(Zuǒ.) |
| DAVID: To go. |
| Amber: 走, 往左走。你也可以说 往他那走。(Zǒu, wǎng zuǒ zǒu. Nǐ yě kěyǐ shuō wǎng tā nà zǒu.) |
| DAVID: Which will be “towards him to go”. |
| Amber: 往他那走。(Wǎng tā nà zǒu.) |
| DAVID: Right. You can use this to give directions in a cab. For instance… |
| Amber: 往天桥走。(Wǎng tiānqiáo zǒu.) |
| DAVID: “Go towards the overpass.” Or… |
| Amber: 往路口走。(Wǎng lùkǒu zǒu.) |
| DAVID: “Go towards the intersection.” |
| Amber: 对。(Duì.) |
| DAVID: Right. So once again, the preposition… |
| Amber: 往。(Wǎng.) |
| DAVID: Really means “towards”. |
| Amber: 对。(Duì.) |
| Amber: And we put there in front of the direction we move. |
| Amber: 唔，在我们要去的方向之前。(Wú, zài wǒmen yào qù de fāngxiàng zhīqián.) |
| DAVID: And also before the verb. |
| Amber: 还有在动词之前。(Hái yǒu zài dòngcí zhīqián.) |
| DAVID: Right. So this is the big difference between... |
| Amber: 往左 (Wǎng zuǒ) and 左。(Zuǒ.) |
| DAVID: When we have 往 (Wǎng) we also have a verb that comes later. |
| Amber: 我们说往前走，或者 往后走，往后跑，往后去。(Wǒmen shuō wǎng qián zǒu, Huòzhě wǎng hòu zǒu, Wǎng hòu pǎo, wǎng hòu qù.) |
| DAVID: Right. This always comes in front of a verb. And if you don’t have the verb, don’t say… |
| Amber: 往。(Wǎng.) |
| DAVID: Right. Just put the direction. |
| Amber: 没错。(Méi cuò.) |
| DAVID: So that’s our grammar point for today. Remember, when you use… |
| Amber: 往。(Wǎng.) |
| DAVID: Follow it with a verb, just like in our dialogue. |
| Amber: 往前走3个路口。(Wǎng qián zǒu sān gè lùkǒu.) |
Outro |
| DAVID: Right. For now, though, that’s all the time we have. |
| Amber: 对。(Duì.) |
| DAVID: From Beijing, I’m David. |
| Amber: 我是安伯。(Wǒ shì ān bó.) |
| DAVID: Thanks for listening, and we’ll see you on the site. |
| Amber: 下次见吧！(Xià cì jiàn ba!) |
Comments
HideHave you experienced traffic in China?! What are your impressions?
Hello Clotto,
A big thank you for your post and kind feedback!❤️
If you have any questions or need assistance with anything, feel free to ask. Remember, learning is a journey, and every step is progress, no matter how small.😊
Sincerely,
Ali
Team ChineseClass101.com
omg the vocab list is finally in the same order as how it's presented in the audio. thank you to whomever it was that pushed for this change!
你好 robert groulx！
不用谢。(Bú yòng xiè.) = No need for thanks. You're welcome. 😇
谢谢 (Xièxie) for studying with us, it's great to have you here!
Let us know if you have any questions.
Kind regards,
雷文特 (Levente)
Team ChineseClass101.com
thank you for the lesson transcript
favorite phrase is 我们说往前走，或者 往后走，往后跑，往后去。
robert
Hello Paisley,
都 in that sentence is an adverb, meaning "all". It's often used with words like 所有.
You may take a look at this lesson for the basic use of 都 -
https://www.chineseclass101.com/lesson/absolute-beginner-8-eating-ordering-noodles/
See you later! 😄
Ngai Lam
Team ChineseClass101.com
Thanks for your help Ngai! Just one clarification, in your corrected sentence 所有大城市的交通都很混乱, what does this 都character do?
Hello Paisley,
Thank you for your comment.
有很多的大城市 ，所有的大城市 => 的 can be omitted.
所有的大城市有太乱象的交通 => 所有大城市的交通都很混乱。
Also, 和 can't be used to link to sentences together.
乱像 is a noun, it means "chaos". 混乱 is both a noun and an adjective, it also means "chaos", and "orderless".
As always, let us know if you have any questions.
Ngai Lam
Team ChineseClass101.com
我还没去过中国, 可是我知道中国有很多的大城市, 和我觉得所有的大城市有太乱象的交通。
That was hard. Corrections appreciated!
A few questions:
When I was trying to check my work with google translate I noticed that it doesn't think the 的 (de) is necessary in the two places I put it before 大城市(dà chėng shì) and I feel like it should be there but I couldn't explain why. What does it do?
Amber uses two words that are translated as chaos: 混乱 (hun luan), and 乱像 (luàn xiàng). What is the difference between them and when would they each be used?
Hello Gerald,
别客气！😄
Ngai Lam
Team ChineseClass101.com
感谢你Ngai! 😄
Hello Gerald,
Thank you for your comment. Try to get the general meaning while you're listening, you'll get there! 💪
To answer your questions:
1. The other word for 'or' is 还是, it's used in questions, while 或者 is used in statements.
2. You may go to the lesson library and search for Listening Comprehension exercises -
https://www.chineseclass101.com/lesson-library/chinese-listening-comprehension-for-absolute-beginners/
加油！And let us know if you have any questions.
Ngai Lam
Team ChineseClass101.com
大家好！谢谢你的课
This lesson was a little confusin, I just moved from Beginners series 2 and there's a lot of new vocab and An Bo is saying more phrases in chinese....I realized that my ''listening'' is still very bad 😞
现在我有两个问题:
1. As far as I know 还 means ''or'', but in this lesson I see we have 或者 whichs means ''or'' too....so, what's the difference in their usage?
2. Is there any section in this website dedicated exclusively to ''listening''? I have troubles navigating through this web 😅 there's so much material!
T.I.A
Hello Joe,
Thank you for posting.
Our lessons are grouped into five levels. Under these five levels, our lessons are further grouped into series, which have more specific levels (for example, Lower Beginner, Beginner, Upper Beginner). Finally, under each series, you will find different seasons, which are lessons grouped into sets of 25.
We usually advise to complete the series one by one.
But I also understand what you wrote.
In case if it's only the vocab causing difficulties now, let me recommend you these features, which can help you to learn/discover more new words:
https://www.chineseclass101.com/chinese-vocabulary-lists/
https://www.chineseclass101.com/index.php?cat=72
I think you'll find the Chinese Resources useful as well (it includes a dictionary too):
https://www.chineseclass101.com/chinese-resources/
Let us know if you have any further questions.
Cheers,
Lena
Team ChineseClass101.com
Hi, Joe,
Thank you for asking.
We will be back to you later.
Cho
Team ChineseClass101.com
Hi, I have been learning from the start at absolute beginner, I have just moved on to this section from the others. I skipped a lot of the beginner series as loads of it repeated and I knew most of the words, so listening didn't prove a challenge. However on first listening to this upper beginner's podcast, there is a lot of Chinese Vocab I haven't come across before like 'verb' and 'chaos'. Is this material covered in previous lower series? Or new material?
Hi, V,
It's our pleasure.:smile:
加油！
Cho
Team ChineseClass101.com
Hey Cho and Lena,
Thanks for taking time and updating that!
Hi, Arthur,
Thank you for your question.
In some cases, 转 and 拐 have the same meaning of "turn".
[往(wǎng) or 向(xiàng )]+[右(yòu) or 左(zuǒ )]+[转 or 拐].
Literally means : to + right or left + turn
For example, 往右转=往右拐=向右转=向左转, means "turn right."
Cho
Team ChineseClass101.com
the Chinese grammar i am using makes no mention of 转 for turn, rather it only uses 拐。 ？
Hi Kate,
Thank you for posting.
We have started publishing the lessons transcription, but not for this series yet! :sob:
You can find the lesson notes and the Hanzi close up under "Download PDFs", just above the title.
Please let us know, if you have any question.
Thank you,
Ofelia
Team ChineseClass101.com