Expressing "towards" with "xiang"

When used as a preposition, "向" (xiàng) indicates an action that is performed towards a reference point. An example of this in English is, "She looked inside the window." Note that there is no movement in the action.

Here's the basic structure:

向 + Noun + Verb

Here are some examples of this preposition in action:

• 她的 朋友 一直 向 我 看。
• 我们 需要 向 他 道歉。
• 他 的 女朋友 向 他 笑 了。
• 我 要 向 你 学习!

Note that whereas in English we would say "learn from you", in Chinese this would be expressed as "learn toward you", as in the last example sentence.

Sources and further reading

Books

• Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar: A Practical Guide (pp. 84)