Indicating location with "zai" before verbs

If you need to include the place where an action takes place, you can use 在 (zài). Just pay close attention to word order, as this is one place where Chinese word order is quite different from English.

Structure

To indicate the location that a verb takes place in, 在 (zài), followed by a location, comes before the verb.

Subj. + 在 + Place + Verb + Obj.

Notice that the location is placed before the verb in Chinese, whereas, in English, it appears afterwards.

Examples

• 我 在 上海 上大学。Wǒ zài Shànghǎi shàng dàxué. I went to college in Shanghai.
• 你 一直 在 这 家 公司 工作 吗？Nǐ yīzhí zài zhè jiā gōngsī gōngzuò ma? Have you always been working in this company?
• 我 周末 想 在 家 睡觉。Wǒ zhōumò xiǎng zài jiā shuìjiào. During the weekend, I want to sleep at home.
• 不 要 在 床 上 吃 东西。need a "上" with "在" to indicate the location " on the bed." Bù yào zài chuáng shàng chī dōngxī. Don't eat food on the bed.
• 你 想 在 哪儿 开 生日 派对？Nǐ xiǎng zài nǎr kāi shēngrì pàiduì? Where do you want to have the birthday party?
• 他 喜欢 在 厕所 里 抽烟。need a "里" with "在" to indicate the location " in the bathroom." Tā xǐhuan zài cèsuǒ lǐ chōu yān. He likes to smoke in the bathroom.
• 很 多 人 在 地铁 上 吃 早饭。need a "上" with "在" to indicate the location " in the subway." Hěn duō rén zài dìtiě shàng chī zaofàn. Many people eat breakfast on the subway.
• 现在 我们 在 KTV 唱歌。Xiànzài wǒmen zài KTV chàng gē. Now we're at KTV singing songs.
• 老板 在 会议室 见 客户。Lǎobǎn zài huìyìshì jiàn kèhù. The boss is seeing the client in the meeting room.
• 你 在 外面 吃 过 晚饭 了 吗？Nǐ zài wàimiàn chī guo wǎnfàn le ma? Did you eat dinner outside?

Notice that in English we usually put the location at the end of a sentence. This is different in Chinese, as we put the location after the subject, but before the verb.

Getting More Specific with the Locations

Rather than just using 在 (zài) to mean "at" a location, you might want to use it to mean "in," "on," or "under" a specific location. To do this, you'll need to add an extra word after the location. Learn about expressing location with "zai... shang / xia / li".

See also

• Expressing existence in a place with "zai"
• Expressing location with "zai... shang / xia / li"
• Special cases of "zai" following verbs
• Complements with "dao", "gei" and "zai"

Sources and further reading

Books

• Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Part 1 (3rd ed) (p. 128) →buy