More direction words

Another useful group of words that I learned are used to describe the position of something.

Here are the most common:

上 (Shàng) is up or on 下 (Xià) is below or under

前 (Qián) is in front 后 (Hòu) is behind

旁 (Páng) is beside

里 (Lǐ) is in (like inside) 外 (Wài) is out (like outside)

右 (Yòu) is right 左 (Zuǒ) is left

Often these words are used with either 边 (Biān) or 面 (Miàn) to indicate the position. Both seem to be able to be used interchangeably, but I know most of my Taiwanese friends seem to use 面 (Miàn) most of the time, except they seem to always use 边 (Biān) for left and right.

You’ll often hear these after a noun, to indicate a position, in relation to the noun. So

房子后面 (Fángzi hòumiàn) will be “rear of the house”.

镜子前面 (Jìngzi qiánmiàn) is “in front of the mirror”.

2019-03-01