Indicating location with "zai" before verbs

Revision as of 09:53, 15 November 2013 by Loganp (talk | contribs)

When you want to express the place in which you do something, you can use 在 (zai).

Structure

To indicate the location that a verb takes place in, 在 is used.

Subject + 在 + Location + Verb + Object

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

Examples

  • 在 上海 工作。I am working in Shanghai.
  • 在 酒吧 喝 酒。I am drinking at the bar.
  • 在 图书馆 看 书。He is reading in the library.

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.

See also

Sources and further reading

Books