Level 5 · Lesson 2

从家到学校
From home to school

我家离学校很近，从八点到十二点上课。

从…到… draws a line from one point to another, in space or in time; 离 measures the gap between two places.

听 · Listen

你家离学校远吗？
 安娜 —  李明，你家离学校远吗？ 
Li Ming, is your home far from school?  
 李明 —  不远，很近。我每天走路来学校。 
Not far, very close. I walk to school every day.  
 安娜 —  我家很远，我从家到学校要坐车。 
My home is far away; I have to take the bus from home to school.  
 李明 —  你今天几点上课？ 
What time are your classes today?  
 安娜 —  我从八点到十二点上课。 
I have class from eight to twelve.  
 李明 —  早上路上人多吗？ 
Are there a lot of people on the road in the morning?  
 安娜 —  人很多，车也很多。 
Lots of people, and lots of cars.  
 李明 —  我走路来，路上人不多。 
I come on foot, and there aren't many people on my road.  

讲解 · Explanation

我从家到学校要坐车。

从 marks where something starts and 到 marks where it ends, and the two work as a pair. Like 跟 last lesson, the whole 从…到… phrase stands in front of the verb: I — from home to school — have to take the bus. Do not split them across the verb. 从 alone is common too (我从家来 'I'm coming from home'), but 到 without 从 usually attaches to a verb instead, as in 走到学校.

我从八点到十二点上课。

The same pair draws a line through time. Any two time expressions you already know can fill the slots: 从星期一到星期五, 从早上到晚上, 从今天到明天. Notice that the time phrase still comes before the verb, exactly as 八点上课 did in level 2 — 从…到… has simply made that time phrase longer.

我家离学校很近。

离 is not 从. 从 is about a journey with a start; 离 is about the gap between two fixed points, and it is used with 远 and 近, not with a verb of motion. The pattern is A 离 B 很远 / 很近. Say 我家离学校很近, never 我家从学校很近. And keep the 很: as with every adjective predicate, 近 alone would sound like a comparison.

生词 · Vocabulary

词	Meaning	注 · Note
从	from (a starting point)	从家来, 从八点开始
离	away from (distance between two points)	A 离 B 很远 / 很近
远	far	很远; 不远 bù yuǎn
近	near, close	很近; the opposite of 远
路	road, way	一条路; 走路 to walk; 路上 on the way

练习 · Practice

我家 ______ 学校很远。 Which word fits: 'My home is far from the school'?

我 ______ 八点到十二点上课。 Fill in the partner of 到.

从家到学校 Where does the 从…到… phrase go?

排一排。 Arrange the words: 'It is very close from my home to the school.'

从、离、远、近、路 Match each word to its meaning.

用一用 · Use it

你家离学校远吗？你从家到学校走路吗？

Say your own answer aloud twice — once with 离 for the distance (我家离公司很近), once with 从…到… for the journey (我从家到公司坐车). Then map your day the same way: 我从八点到五点工作 (wǒ cóng bā diǎn dào wǔ diǎn gōngzuò), 我从星期一到星期五上班. Keep every one of these phrases in front of the verb.