▎離, lí, (Prep), distance from

 

Function The preposition 離 marks the distance between two points.

1 我家離學校很遠。

Wǒ jiā lí xuéxiào hěn yuǎn.

My home is far away from the school.

2 離火車站很近的地方，有一家（牛肉）麵店的牛肉麵很好吃。

Lí huǒchē zhàn hěn jìn de dìfāng, yǒu yì jiā (niúròu) miàn diàn de niúròu miàn hěn hǎochī.

There is a very good beef noodle place close to the train station.

3 你從這裡往左邊走，離學校不遠的地方，可以看到海。

Nǐ cóng zhèlǐ wǎng zuǒbiān zǒu, lí xuéxiào bù yuǎn de dìfāng, kěyǐ kàndào hǎi.

Walk left from here. Not far from the school, you can see the ocean.

 

Structures 離 cannot be directly negated, unlike most other prepositions, unless 不是 is used.

Negation：

1 銀行離學校不遠。你應該走路去就可以了。

Yínháng lí xuéxiào bù yuǎn. Nǐ yīnggāi zǒulù qù jiù kěyǐ le.

The bank is not far from the school. You can walk there.

2 花蓮離台北不很遠，可是到那裡要花不少時間。

Huālián lí Táiběi bù hěn yuǎn, kěshì dào nàlǐ yào huā bù shǎo shíjiān.

Hualien is not very far from Taipei, but getting there takes a long time.

3 我要找的房子，不能離夜市太近。

Wǒ yào zhǎo de fángzi, bù néng lí yèshì tài jìn.

The house I want cannot be too close to the night market.

4 他家不是離公車站很遠。

Tā jiā búshì lí gōngchē zhàn hěn yuǎn.

His house is not far from a bus station.

Questions：

1 學校離郵局遠不遠？

Xuéxiào lí yóujú yuǎn bù yuǎn?

Is the school far from the post office?

2 你家離捷運站是不是很遠？

Nǐ jiā lí jiéyùn zhàn shìbúshì hěn yuǎn?

Is your home far from an MRT Station?

3 你們國家離臺灣遠嗎？

Nǐmen guójiā lí Táiwān yuǎn ma?

Is your country far from Taiwan?