Expressing "towards" with "xiang"
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Level
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Similar to
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Used for
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Keywords
向 is a proposition that means "towards", and is used often when expressing or referring to a certain point.
Structure
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.
向 + Noun + Verb
Examples
- 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 someone", in Chinese this would be expressed as "learn toward someone", as in the last example sentence. Refer to the following example (and famous propaganda slogan):
- 向 雷锋 同志 学习 !