Level 3 · Lesson 16

前边和后边
In front and behind

图书馆在学校后边，银行在学校前边。

The 边 place words — front, back, side, left, right — and where Chinese puts them.

听 · Listen

在哪儿？
 安娜 —  李明，图书馆在哪儿？ 
Li Ming, where is the library?  
 李明 —  图书馆在学校后边。 
The library is behind the school.  
 安娜 —  银行呢？ 
And the bank?  
 李明 —  银行在学校前边。 
The bank is in front of the school.  
 安娜 —  银行旁边有商店吗？ 
Is there a shop next to the bank?  
 李明 —  有。左边有一个商店，右边有一个公园。 
Yes. There's a shop on the left and a park on the right.  
 安娜 —  公园大不大？ 
Is the park big?  
 李明 —  很大。我家在公园后边。 
Very big. My home is behind the park.  

讲解 · Explanation

图书馆在学校后边。

Read the Chinese in the order it arrives: library — is at — school — back side. The landmark comes first and the direction word comes last, which is the exact reverse of English 'behind the school'. This is the same shape as 桌子上 from last lesson; 前边 and 后边 are simply longer words in the same slot. 在 is the verb of the sentence, so nothing else is needed.

左边有一个商店。

Every 边 word is itself a noun — a place — so it can also open a sentence with 有: 'on the left there is a shop'. When the landmark is already obvious from the conversation you drop it and let the 边 word stand alone, exactly as here. You may also slip 的 between the two nouns (学校的后边), but in everyday speech it is usually left out.

左边、右边、旁边。

左 and 右 are counted from the speaker's own left and right, as in English. 旁边 is 'at the side of' — the one you use when left and right do not matter: 我旁边 'next to me', 门旁边 'by the door'. Listen to the tones as you say the set: 边 goes light in 前边, 后边, 左边 and 右边, but keeps its full first tone in pángbiān.

生词 · Vocabulary

词	Meaning	注 · Note
前边	in front, the front side	学校前边 in front of the school
后边	behind, the back side	房子后边 behind the house
旁边	beside, next to	边 keeps its full tone in this one
左边	the left side	在我左边 on my left
右边	the right side	在我右边 on my right

练习 · Practice

银行在学校前边。 Which sentence really means 'The bank is in front of the school'?

图书馆 ______ 有一个公园。 There is a park beside the library. Which word fits?

商店在银行 ______，公园在银行右边。 Fill in the opposite of 右边.

排一排。 Arrange the words: 'My home is behind the park.'

前边、后边、旁边、左边、右边 Match each place word to its meaning.

用一用 · Use it

我前边有什么？我后边有什么？我左边、右边有什么？

Sit still and describe the four directions around you out loud, one sentence each: 我前边有一张桌子 (wǒ qiánbian yǒu yì zhāng zhuōzi), 我后边有一把椅子 (wǒ hòubian yǒu yì bǎ yǐzi). Then place the buildings on your own street: 商店在我家旁边，公园在学校后边。Say each one twice — once with 在 to place a thing you name first, once with 有 to say what stands at a place.