Direction Words in Chinese

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Chinese Vocabulary · 中文词汇

Direction Words in Chinese

方向词汇 fāngxiàng cíhuì

Before we get into the vocab, a tip: don’t bother asking most people in Taiwan for directions using east, west, north, or south — it just isn’t how directions get given day to day. Locals tend to rely on left, right, straight ahead, and “turn back” instead, and plenty of people genuinely struggle to say which way is north on the spot.

There’s actually a word for someone with a poor sense of direction: (lùchī), which literally translates to something like “road idiot.”

The four points and beyond

Basic Direction Words in Chinese

ChinesePinyinEnglishKoreanJapanese
东dōngEast동東
南nánSouth남南
西xīWest서西
北běiNorth북北
(西)方(xī)fāngWestern (direction)서방(西)の方
(西)边(xī)biānWest side서쪽(西)側
(西)部(xī)bùWest part서부(西)部
东北dōngběiNortheast동북東北
西南xīnánSouthwest서남西南
西北xīběiNorthwest서북西北

Putting it all together

Examples

台湾Táiwān的de北部běibù是shì台北Táiběi The northern part of Taiwan is Taipei.

台湾Táiwān的de北边běibiān有yǒu日本Rìběn Japan is to the north of Taiwan.

Try it yourself

Compass Match

Tap a word below, then tap the square where it belongs on the compass.

N S W E

 

A little further

Other Direction Words in Chinese

ChinesePinyinEnglishKoreanJapanese
以后yǐhòuAfter이후以後
以前yǐqiánBefore이전以前
以上yǐshàngAbove이상以上
以下yǐxiàBelow이하以下
以内yǐnèiWithin이내以内
以外yǐwàiExcept이외以外

Putting it all together

Examples

我wǒ从cóng2019èrlíngyījiǔ年nián以后yǐhòu都dōu没méi出国chūguó I haven’t been abroad since 2019.

我wǒ的de预算yùsuàn是shì200èrbǎi块kuài以内yǐnèi My budget is within 200 dollars.

Test yourself

Vocabulary Quiz

A2
Do you like it? 🙂