Brooke Bagley
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How to Ask for Directions in Chinese: Everything You Need to Find Your Way
If you’re going to travel to China, odds are that you will feel a little lost at some point. This is why it’s so important to know a few key terms that will help you ask for assistance in Chinese!
In this blog post, you’ll learn new words for places to go, basic phrases you need to master and how to ask for, give and talk about directions in Chinese.
Let’s get a move on!
Contents
Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)
Basic Phrases
First, let’s take a look at a few phrases that’ll be critical in helping you form sentences related to placement, locations and directions in Chinese.
__在哪里？__ zài nǎ lǐ? — Where is __?
__离这里远吗？__ lí zhé lì yuǎn ma? — Is __ far from here?
__离这里近吗？__ lí zhé lì jìn ma? — Is __ close to here?
从__到__要多长时间？cóng… dào… yào duō cháng shí jiān? — How long does it take to get from __ to __?
去__怎么走？Qù… zěn me zǒu? — How do I get to …?
坐__Zuò __ — To take __
Vocabulary Essentials
Now that you know how to form basic sentences when it comes to asking for directions, let’s look at specific vocabulary terms that may come up:
指路zhǐ lù — to give directions
问路wèn lù — to ask for directions
地图dì tú — map
迷路mí lù — to get lost
走路zǒu lù — to go by foot
坐火车zuò huǒ chē — to take the train
开车kāi chē — to drive
坐飞机zuò fēi jī — to take an airplane
街jiē — street
在路上zài lù shàng — on the way
Places to Go
Here are some of the most common locations that you might need to tell someone you’re going to:
银行yín háng — the bank
医院yī yuàn — the hospital
火车站huǒ chē zhàn — train station
地铁站dì tiě zhàn — subway station
超市chāo shì — grocery store or supermarket
商场shāng chǎng — shopping mall
博物馆bó wù guǎn — museum
图书馆tú shū guǎn — the library
餐厅cān tīng — a casual restaurant
吧bā — bar
公园gōng yuán — park
机场jī chǎng — airport
电影院diàn yǐng yuàn — movie theater
Location or Placement of Things
When someone is giving you directions or you need to ask where things are in relation to other places, here are some location-based vocabulary that you may need:
qián miàn / qián biān — in front of
hòu miàn / hòu biān — behind
wài miàn / wài biān — outside
lǐ miàn / lǐ biān — inside
右边yòu biān — to the right of
左边zuǒ biān — to the left of
一直yì zhí — straight
旁边páng biān — next to
北方běi fāng — north
南方nán fāng — south
东方dōng fāng — east
西方xī fāng — west
So, what’s next now that you know how to talk about, ask for and give directions in Chinese?
It’s time to hit the streets!
Get out there and start asking your way around. You may look like a lost foreigner, but you’re on your way to sounding like a lost local!
Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)