LessonsHSK 1 · Lesson 9
HSK 1 · Lesson 9 of 15
Where is it?
Places and positions: here and there, on and under, in front and behind. 23 words and 3 grammar points; tap the characters to hear them.
🔊 The sound in these lessons comes from your device’s own Mandarin voice, so it differs from device to device. Recorded audio will follow.
📚 Words
- Hán-Việt tại To be in or at a place; also the preposition 'in, at'.
- Hán-Việt giá This — pointing at a person or thing near the speaker.
- Hán-Việt na That — pointing at a person or thing further away; at the start of a sentence also 'then, in that case'.
- Hán-Việt ná Which: a question word for picking one from several.
- Hán-Việt giá nhi Here, this place — the everyday spoken form, especially in the north.
- Hán-Việt na nhi That place, over there: the everyday word for 'there' in northern speech.
- Hán-Việt ná nhi Where, what place: the everyday spoken question word for a location.
- Hán-Việt giá lí Here, this place: the spot where the speaker is.
- Hán-Việt na lí There, that place: somewhere away from the speaker.
- Hán-Việt ná lí Where — the question word for places.
- Hán-Việt giá biên This side, over here: the side or direction where the speaker is.
- Hán-Việt na biên That side, over there: a place or direction away from the speaker.
- Hán-Việt biên A side or an edge: the outer line of something, or the space right next to it.
- Hán-Việt thượng Up, above, on: the position higher than something or on its surface.
- Hán-Việt hạ Down, below, under: the position lower than something.
- Hán-Việt lí In, inside: the space within something.
- Hán-Việt ngoại Outside, out; also foreign, from another country.
- Hán-Việt tiền Front, ahead; before or ago in time.
- Hán-Việt hậu Back, behind; after or later in time.
- Hán-Việt ngoại biên Outside, out there: the area beyond a room, a building or one's home.
- Hán-Việt phòng gian A room in a home, a hotel or another building.
- Hán-Việt trác tử A table or a desk: furniture with a flat top on legs.
- Hán-Việt ỷ tử A chair: a seat with a back, for one person.
🧩 Grammar
在 + place
在 means "to be at": 我在家 "I'm at home", 你在哪儿？ "Where are you?". Unlike 是, it is followed by a place. Its negative is 不在: 老师不在 "the teacher isn't here". 这儿 and 这里 both mean "here" (这儿 is the spoken northern form), 那儿 and 那里 "there", 哪儿 and 哪里 "where?".
- Where are you?
- My mum isn't at home.
Position words come after the noun
Where English and Vietnamese say "on the table", Chinese says "table on": 桌子上 "on the table", 房间里 "in the room", 学校前边 "in front of the school", 椅子下边 "under the chair". So: 书在桌子上 "The book is on the table".
- The cat is under the chair.
- My phone is on the table.
There is: place + 有
To say what there is somewhere, start with the place and use 有: 桌子上有一本书 "There's a book on the table". Compare 在, which starts with the thing: 书在桌子上 "The book is on the table".
- There's a book on the table.
- There's a supermarket in front of the school.
🎯 Practice
The drill below uses only this lesson’s words. Switch the kind of drill:
Context clues Match the meaning Listen & type Fill the blank Put in order Hán-Việt bridge
Open the full practice page → · All 300 HSK 1 words