▎在, zài, (Prep), Marking the Location of an Activity (2)

 

Function 在zài ‘at’ marks the location where an activity takes place.

1 我爸爸在家做飯。

Wǒ bàba zài jiā zuòfàn.

My dad is cooking at home.

2 他和他朋友在七樓的教室上網。

Tàn hàn tā péngyǒu zài qī lóu de jiàoshì shàngwǎng.

He and his friends use the internet on the seventh floor.

3 我們老師常在學校附近的咖啡店喝咖啡。

Wǒmen lǎoshī cháng zài xuéxiào fùjìn de kāfēi diàn hē kāfēi.

Our teacher often has coffee at a café near the school.

4 我們很喜歡在這家餐廳吃牛肉麵。

Wǒmen hěn xǐhuān zài zhè jiā cāntīng chī niúròu miàn.

We love to eat beef noodles in this restaurant.

 

Structures Most sentences in Chinese follow this sequence: Time＋Place＋Action, where place is marked by 在.

Negation：The negation marker 不 is placed before preposition 在.

1 他們今天不在家吃晚飯。

Tāmen jīntiān bú zài jiā chī wǎnfàn.

They aren’t eating dinner at home today.

2 他現在不在宿舍看書。

Tā xiànzài bú zài sùshè kànshū.

He is not studying in the dormitory now.

3 很多學生不在學校裡面的咖啡店買咖啡。

Hěn duō xuéshēng bú zài xuéxiào lǐmiàn de kāfēi diàn mǎi kāfēi.

Many students do not buy coffee at the coffee shop in the school.

Questions：

1 你們在不在家吃飯？

Nǐmen zài bú zài jiā chīfàn?

Will you be eating at home?

2 你們在哪裡打籃球？

Nǐmen zài nǎlǐ dǎ lánqiú?

Where do you play basketball?

3 他們是不是在英國上學？

Tāmen shìbúshì zài Yīngguó shàngxué?

Do they go to school in England?

 

Usage

(1) Note the word order. The location comes before the main verb. That is, the ‘在zài/到dào＋PLACE’ phrase appears before the verb phrase as do all prepositional phrases. You do not say ＊他學中文在家 ＊Tā xué Zhōngwén zài jiā; rather you say 他在家學中文。Tā zài jiā xué Zhōngwén. ‘He studies Chinese at home’.

(2) The negation is placed before the preposition rather than the main verb, e.g., 他不在家上網。Tā bú zài jiā shàngwǎng. ‘He doesn’t use the internet at home.’