Level 3 · Lesson 14

我在家
I'm at home

你在哪儿？我在图书馆。王老师不在。

在 as the verb 'to be at', the question 你在哪儿, and 不在 for someone who is out.

听 · Listen

你在哪儿？
 李明 —  安娜，你在哪儿？ 
Anna, where are you?  
 安娜 —  我在银行。 
I'm at the bank.  
 李明 —  王老师在不在学校？ 
Is Teacher Wang at the school?  
 安娜 —  他不在学校，他在图书馆。 
He isn't at the school, he's at the library.  
 李明 —  你妹妹呢？ 
And your younger sister?  
 安娜 —  她在公园。我爸爸妈妈在家。 
She's at the park. My parents are at home.  
 李明 —  我的词典在你的房间吗？ 
Is my dictionary in your room?  
 安娜 —  在。你的词典和你的书在我的房间。 
Yes. Your dictionary and your books are in my room.  

讲解 · Explanation

我在家。他在银行。我妹妹在公园。

在 is a full verb here, meaning 'to be at, to be in'. That is all the sentence needs: subject, 在, place. Never put 是 in front of it — 我是在家 is not Chinese — and never leave 在 out. Notice too that Chinese does not split 'at', 'in' and 'on' into separate little words the way English does; one 在 covers all three, and the place word itself carries the detail.

你在哪儿？我在图书馆。

哪儿 asks 'where'. As with 什么 and 谁, it does not jump to the front of the sentence: it sits in exactly the slot the answer will fill. So question and answer have the same shape, and you reply by swapping 哪儿 for a place. This is one of the great conveniences of Chinese — to answer, keep the sentence and change one word.

王老师不在。他在不在公园？

Negate with 不 straight in front of the verb: 不在家, 不在学校. Standing alone, 不在 is what you say when someone has stepped out — 王老师不在 means 'Teacher Wang isn't here'. The A-not-A question from the last lesson works here too: 你在不在家 asks the same thing as 你在家吗. And mind the reading of 银行: this character is yínháng, never yínxíng.

生词 · Vocabulary

词	Meaning	注 · Note
在	to be at, to be in (a place)	a verb: 我在家
房间	room	一个房间
公园	park	一个公园
银行	bank	一家银行; read yínháng, never yínxíng
图书馆	library	一个图书馆

练习 · Practice

我爸爸______家。 My father is at home.

王老师______图书馆。 Teacher Wang is not at the library.

你在______？——我在公园。 Where are you? — I'm at the park.

排一排。 Arrange the words: 'My older brother is at the park.'

在、房间、公园、银行、图书馆 Match each word to its meaning.

用一用 · Use it

我在家。我妈妈在公司。我朋友在图书馆。王老师不在。

Say where you are right now, then say where four people you know are — subject, 在, place, and nothing else. Now ask about someone who is out, both ways: 他在家吗 and 他在不在家, and answer your own question with 他不在. Finish by asking the open question 你在哪儿 and answering it with each of today's five places.