Level 3 · Lesson 15

桌子上有一本书
There is a book on the table

桌子上，房间里，床下，门外。桌子上有一本书。

上下里外中间 attach after the noun — the opposite of the English order.

听 · Listen

我的词典在哪儿？
 李明 —  安娜，我的词典在哪儿？ 
Anna, where's my dictionary?  
 安娜 —  在桌子上。 
On the table.  
 李明 —  桌子上有一本书和一本杂志。 
On the table there's a book and a magazine.  
 安娜 —  床下呢？ 
What about under the bed?  
 李明 —  床下有一双鞋，也有一个碗！ 
Under the bed there's a pair of shoes, and a bowl too!  
 安娜 —  你的房间里有很多东西。 
There are a lot of things in your room.  
 李明 —  我的词典呢？ 
So where's my dictionary?  
 安娜 —  在书和杂志中间。桌子上的东西很多！ 
Between the book and the magazine. There's a lot of stuff on that table!  

讲解 · Explanation

桌子上，房间里，床下，门外。

This is the one piece of Chinese word order that feels backwards to an English speaker, so meet it head on: the place word comes AFTER the noun. 桌子上 is literally 'table-on', 房间里 is 'room-in', 床下 is 'bed-under', 门外 is 'door-outside'. English puts the little word first, Chinese puts it last, every single time. Say those four phrases aloud twice before reading on.

桌子上有一本书。房间里有很多东西。

Once a noun carries a place word it counts as a place, and a place can open a sentence with 有: place + 有 + thing, which is English 'there is / there are'. The measure word is still obligatory — 一本书, never 一书 — and what follows 有 is normally something new, so it comes with a number rather than with 的. This is the same 有 you used for possession in 我有一本书; Chinese needs no separate verb for 'there is'.

词典在书和杂志中间。

These phrases work as the place after 在 as well: 书在桌子上, 鞋在床下. 中间 'between, in the middle' belongs to the same family, and it takes two nouns joined by 和 in front of it. Two small habits worth copying: 家 usually stands bare (我在家), while 房间, 杯子, 车 and other container-like nouns take 里 — 房间里, 杯子里, 车里.

生词 · Vocabulary

词	Meaning	注 · Note
上	on, above, the top	桌子上, 床上
下	under, below, the bottom	床下, 桌子下
里	in, inside	房间里, 杯子里
外	outside	门外, 学校外
中间	between, in the middle	A 和 B 中间

练习 · Practice

书在______。 The book is on the table.

______有一只猫。 There is a cat in the room.

我的鞋在床______。 My shoes are under the bed.

排一排。 Arrange the words: 'There is a bed in the room.'

上、下、里、外、中间 Match each place word to its meaning.

用一用 · Use it

桌子上有一个杯子。房间里有一张床。门外有一只狗。我的书在桌子上。

Describe the room you are sitting in. Say three sentences that start with a place and use 有, giving every noun its measure word. Then choose one thing you can see and say where it is with 在, putting the thing first this time. Say each place phrase slowly enough to feel the order — noun first, 上 or 里 or 下 last.