▎按照, ànzhào, (Prep), in accordance with

 

Function The preposition 按照 refers to ‘on the basis of, in accordance with, following’.

1 按照醫生說的，你睡覺以前要吃一包藥。

Ànzhào yīshēng shuō de, nǐ shuìjiào yǐqián yào chī yì bāo yào.

According to what the doctor said, you need to take a packet of medicine before going to bed.

2 我打算按照網路的介紹，自己去花蓮玩玩。

Wǒ dǎsuàn ànzhào wǎnglù de jièshào, zìjǐ qù Huālián wánwán.

I plan to visit Hualien on my own and follow the recommendations on the internet.

3 按照臺灣的法律，剛來臺灣的外國學生不可以工作。

Ànzhào Táiwān de fǎlǜ, gāng lái Táiwān de wàiguó xuéshēng bù kěyǐ gōngzuò.

According to Taiwan law, foreign students who have just arrived in Taiwan cannot work.

 

Structures The 按照 prepositional phrase can be placed either at the very beginning of a sentence, or before a verb.

1 按照他的旅行計畫，他現在應該在法國。

Ànzhào tā de lǚxíng jìhuà, tā xiànzài yīnggāi zài Fǎguó.

According to his travel plan, he should be in France now.

2 你應該按照老師的建議，練習寫中國字。

Nǐ yīnggāi ànzhào lǎoshī de jiànyì, liànxí xiě Zhōngguó zì.

You should follow the teacher’s suggestion and practice writing Chinese characters.

Negation：

1 他沒按照老師的建議準備考試。

Tā méi ànzhào lǎoshī de jiànyì zhǔnbèi kǎoshì.

He did not follow the teacher’s advice in preparing for the exam.

2 我常常不按照老闆說的做事。

Wǒ chángcháng bú ànzhào lǎobǎn shuō de zuòshì.

I often do not follow my supervisor’s instructions when working.

3 小高沒按照計畫回來工作，他的老闆很不高興。

Xiǎo Gāo méi ànzhào jìhuà huílái gōngzuò, tā de lǎobǎn hěn bù gāoxìng.

Xiao Gao did not return to work as planned and his boss is very unhappy.

Questions：In addition to 嗎, 是不是 is the only other pattern possible when the preposition 按照 is used.

1 你是不是按照老師給你的建議練習說話？

Nǐ shìbúshì ànzhào lǎoshī gěi nǐ de jiànyì liànxí shuōhuà?

Are you practicing speaking as per the teacher’s suggestion?

2 你是不是按照網路上的說明做小籠包？

Nǐ shìbúshì ànzhào wǎnglù shàng de shuōmíng zuò xiǎolóngbāo?

Are you following the instructions from the internet in making the steamed dumplings?

3 請你按照我們約的時間在捷運站跟我見面，好嗎？

Qǐng nǐ ànzhào wǒmen yuē de shíjiān zài jiéyùn zhàn gēn wǒ jiànmiàn, hǎo ma?

Please meet me at the MRT Station according to the arranged time, OK?

B語法