47 expressing location and distance
47.1 Location
47.1.1 Words that indicate location and compass direction
47.1.1.1 location words
Mandarin location words consist of a base form and a location suffix. Base forms never occur
alone. Some base forms occur with several different suffixes with no change in meaning. Here
are the Mandarin location words and their English equivalents.
Base form Mandarin location words English里/裏 里头/裏頭 里面/裏面 里边/裏邊
lǐ lǐtou lǐmiàn lǐbiān in
外 外头/外頭 外面 外边/外邊
wài wàitou wàimiàn wàibiān out
上 上头/上頭 上面 上边/上邊
shàng shàngtou shàngmiàn shàngbiān over
下 下头/下頭 下面 下边/下邊
xià xiàtou xiàmiàn xiàbiān under
前 前头/前頭 前面 前边/前邊
qián qiántou qiánmiàn qiánbiān in front of
后/後 后头/後頭 后面/後面 后边/後邊
hòu hòutou hòumiàn hòubiān behind
左 左面 左边/左邊
zuǒ zuǒmiàn zuǒbiān left
右 右面 右边/右邊
yòu yòumiàn yòubiān right
对/對 对面/對面
duì duìmiàn across from
旁 旁边/旁邊
páng pángbiān next to
中 中间/中間
zhōng zhōngjiān betweenNoteS1 In traditional characters, the character 裏 lh is also written as 裡.
2 the choice of suffix is determined by the region of China and the personal preference of the speaker.
3 Mandarin has a second word for ‘in,’ 内 nèi. 內 nèi does not occur with suffixes and is very restricted
in usage. It is used in fixed expressions such as:
国内/國內 guónèi domestic (vs. 国外/國外 guówài foreign)
内部 nèibù internal
内人 nèiren my wife