Mandarin Movement Prepositions

There are two groups of Mandarin prepositions – general prepositions and movement prepositions. General prepositions include gēn 跟 (with), yòng 用 (with an object), and tì 替 (for).

Movement prepositions are used to show movement in time or space. These Mandarin prepositions correspond to the English prepositions to, from, into, and out of.

There is one Mandarin preposition that does not refer to movement, but nonetheless refers to a location or time: zài 在. This means at a location or time, as in zài jiā 在 家 (at home). Read more about zài 在.

 Mandarin Movement Prepositions

The most common Mandarin Movement Prepositions are:

    進 / 进 – jìn – enter
    出 – chū – outwards
    往 – wǎng – towards
    向 – xiàng – towards
    到 – dào – to (a location or time)
    從 / 从 – cóng – from (a location or time)

Using Mandarin Movement Prepositions

The object of a Mandarin preposition comes directly after the preposition, and the OBJECT + PREPOSITION phrase (the Prepositional Phrase or PP) comes before the verb, as in this example:

    Wǒ dào Táiběi qù le.
    我到台北去了。
    I went to Taipei.

In the above example, the preposition is dào 到, the object is Táiběi 台北, and the verb is qù 去.

Modifiers such as adverbs are placed either before the PP or after the verb’s object:

    Wǒ míngtiān huì dào Táiběi qù.
    我明天會到台北去。
    我明天会到台北去。
    I will go to Taipei tomorrow. (literally: I tomorrow will to Taipei go.)

Mandarin Preposition Examples

Here are a few sentences with Mandarin movement prepositions.
進 / 进 Jìn

    Qǐng bú yào jìnqù.
    請不要進去。
    请不要进去。
    Please don’t go in.

出 Chū

    Qǐng chūlai yīxià.
    請出來一下。
    请出来一下。
    Please come out for a bit.

往 Wǎng

    Zài yínháng wǎng yòu zhuǎn.
    在銀行往右轉。
    在银行往右转。
    Turn right at the bank.

向 Xiàng

    Zhègè chuāngkǒu xiàng nán.
    這個窗口向南。
    这个窗口向南。
    This window faces south.

到 Dào

    Wǒ bù dào cài shìchǎng qù
    我不到菜市場去。
    我不到菜市场去。
    I am not going to the market.

從 / 从 Cóng

    Cóng Táiběi dào Gāoxióng yào duō jiǔ?
    從台北到高雄要多久?
    从台北到高雄要多久?
    How long does it take from Taipei to Kaohsiung?