Level 1 Lesson 1.1 – I Live in Beijing

Grammar 1: To Live in Somewhere Chinese · HSK 1

zhù 住 to live

We can use this structure to say to live somewhere in Chinese:

Subject + 住 + Preposition 在 + Place

• wǒ zhùzài Běijīng 我住在北京。 I live in Beijing.
• tā zhùzài xuéxiào 他住在学校。 He lives at school.

Grammar 2: Preposition 在 in Chinese · HSK 1

zài 在 in/on/at (+somewhere)

在 can be used as a preposition, followed by a place, meaning the presence is in, on or at this place:

Preposition 在 + Place

• tā zhùzài Zhōngguó 他住在中国。 He lives in China.
• tā zhùzài zhèjiān sùshè 他住在这间宿舍。 He lives in this dormitory room.

For negative sentences, the negative adverb 不 goes before the verb.

• tā bú zhùzài Zhōngguó 他不住在中国。 He doesn't live in China.
• tā bú zhùzài zhèjiān sùshè 他不住在这间宿舍。 He doesn't live in this dormitory room.

Grammar 3: Verb 在 in Chinese · HSK 3

zài 在 to be in/on/at (+somewhere)

在 can also be used as a verb, followed by a place, meaning to be in, on or at this place.

Subject + Verb 在 + Place

• tā zài Zhōngguó 他在中国。 He is in China.
• tā zài xuéxiào 他在学校。 He is at school.

For negative sentences, the negative adverb 不 goes before 在 because 在 is the verb itself.

• tā bú zài Zhōngguó 他不在中国。 He is not in China.
• tā bú zài xuéxiào 他不在学校。 He is not at school.

Grammar 4: Omission of Two 的 in Chinese · HSK 1

We learned omission of Possessive Particle 的 in Basic Course Lesson 8.1. Sometimes there can be two Possessive Particle 的 in a phrase. In those situations, we can omit none, one, or both 的. So we can say the same phrase in four different ways (personally I prefer the last one because it's the easiest one to say):

Grammar 5: Measure Words 所 and 间 in Chinese · HSK 1

suǒ 所 measure word for institutions

• yì suǒ xuéxiào 一所学校 a school

jiān 间 measure word for rooms

• yì jiān sùshè 一间宿舍 a dormitory room