Basic Grammar: all 87 lessons free
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往 — Towards: Go Straight, Turn Left, Look Up
介词「往」— 往前走、往左转、往上看
往前走一百米，然后左转就到了: 往 + a direction + a verb sends the action that way. The grammar of giving directions — and of a panda's bottom.
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Memory hook
往 + direction + V
Which way
The seven directions, then the deck's three sentences. Hear 往 point before every verb.
Tap any line to hear it
Point the verb把动词指过去
No pressure — just making it stick.
____前走一百米，然后左转就到了。
____ Qián zǒu yìbǎimǐ, ránhòu zuǒzhuǎn jiù dào le.
Go straight a hundred metres, then turn left and you're there.
It is straight ahead, then right. Which reply?
Do you dare jump down?
Tap the tiles in order — it checks itself when the sentence is complete. Tap a placed tile to take it back.
Your sentence
往____看是熊猫的屁股。
Wǎng ____ Kàn shì xióngmāo de pìgǔ.
Look up and it's a panda's bottom.
Your turn — say it
往左转。
Turn left.
外面着火了，快往____跑！
Wàimiàn zháohuǒ le, kuàiwǎng ____ Pǎo!
There's a fire — run outside, quick!
Send each verb in the right direction.
Tap a word to fill the next gap; tap a filled sentence to clear it. Every word is used once.
Word bank
0/5Directions, in pictures看图指路
No pressure — just making it stick.
Four things from the deck's directions. Match each picture, then say the 往 phrase for it.
Tap a picture, then choose its word. Picked wrong? Tap that picture and choose again. Match all the cards to finish.
Your turn — say it
往前走一百米，然后左转就到了。
Go straight a hundred metres, then turn left and you're there.
At the traffic light, turn right.
Tap the tiles in order — it checks itself when the sentence is complete. Tap a placed tile to take it back.
Your sentence
Your turn — say it
往上看是熊猫的屁股。
Look up and it's a panda's bottom.
This lesson's characters
往 itself, the turn, and the panda in the tree.
towards; to go
形meaning + sound
A step 彳 and a sound part: to go towards. 往前走 sends the walk forward; 往左转 turns it. As a verb 往 is 'to go' — 开往北京的火车, the train bound for Beijing — and 往往 means 'often', the way things tend to go. Every direction in China starts with this step.
to turn
形meaning + sound
A cart 车 and 专 for the sound: a wheel going round — to turn. 往左转 turns you at the corner; 转弯 is to make a turn; 转 also means to pass something on — 转发, to forward a message. Read zhuàn it is to revolve: 地球转.
bear
会two ideas joined
能 was a drawing of a bear before it came to mean 'able'; when it moved on to that job, the animal took four dots underneath — its paws — and became 熊. 熊猫, 'bear-cat', is the panda; 北极熊 the polar bear. 往上看是熊猫的屁股 — and now you can read the bear in the tree.
Take these with you
Everything worth taking away. Tap any line to hear it.
Words 生词
Characters 汉字
Before you go课后回顾
- Give real directions once this week — from your door to the nearest metro, in 往 phrases, ending with 就到了. Say it to someone who does not know the way.
- Play 我说你做 with a friend: 往上看，往左转，往后跑. Silly, fast, and the seven directions will never leave you.
- Collect your prepositions: 从 where it starts, 到 where it ends, 离 how far, 对 aimed at, 往 which way. Five arrows, and you can move anything anywhere in Chinese.