Expressing "towards" with "xiang"

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向 (xiàng) is a preposition that means "towards," and is used often when expressing or referring to a certain point.

Structure

When used as a preposition, "向" indicates an action that is performed towards a reference point, but doesn't have any actual motion towards that 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 一直 我 招手。Tā yīzhí xiàng wǒ zhāoshǒu.She kept waving to me.
  • 我们 需要 他 道歉。Wǒmen xūyào xiàng tā dàoqiàn.We need to apologize to him.
  • 老师正 我们走来。Lǎoshī zhèng xiàng wǒmen zǒu lái.The teacher is walking up to us.
  • 我 要 你 学习!Wǒ yào xiàng nǐ xuéxí!I want to learn from you.

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):

  • 雷锋 同志 学习 !Xiàng Léi Fēng tóngzhì xuéxí!Learn from Comrade Lei Feng!


See also

Sources and further reading

Books