This is the lesson attached to the Chinese learning game Where's Mao. Learn how to use 在 zai in many different ways. Play the FREE version of the game or join us and get the full version!
It is a common mistake for beginners to use to express to be at… / in… but you must use the verb instead, without any preposition if the location is a big place like a house, a city, or a country.
subject 在 big place
Example 1 我在家 wǒ zài jiā I am home
Example 2 我在伦敦 wǒ zài Lúndūn I am in London
The sentence structure is different with specific locations. To show where an object is in relation to another object, you need to add direction particles AFTER the location (hence the fact that we cannot call them prepositions):
subject 在 specific location 上 / 下 / 里 / 旁边
Example 猫在桌子上 。 Māo zài zhuōzi shàng. The cat is on the table.
is also the verb to use for gatherings of all kinds (meetings, weddings, birthday parties, etc.) followed by the direction particle .
subject 在 gathering 上
Example 莉莉在课上。 Lìlì zài kè shàng. Lili is in class.
You can use not as a verb but as a preposition with the main verb. In that case, you must place before the verb.
subject 在 place verb …
Example 我在巴黎吃饭。 Wǒ zài bālí chīfàn. I'm eating in Paris.
This pattern is used with some types of verbs that imply movement or location, such as:
subject special verb 在 place …
Example 不要坐在地上。 Bùyào zuò zài dì shàng. Don't sit on the ground.
appears in the following idiomatic phrases:
Example 在这个问题上 zài zhège wèntí shàng regarding this problem
Example 在事业方面 zài shìyè fāngmiàn when it comes to career
Example 在这样的环境下 zài zhèyàng de huánjìng xià in this kind of environmnent
This structure is used to express something you are doing right now. In this aspect, it acts very much like the English present progressive or continuous (a tense that combines the present tense with the continuous aspect).
subject 在 verb …
Example 我在吃饭。 Wǒ zài chīfàn. I am eating
