How far is it? 离 and 往
HSK 2 Unit 4: Travel and transport · Lesson 2 of 5 · About 16 minutes
Preview version — Chinese review in progress.
Your mission: By the end of this lesson, you can ask whether a place is near or far with 离, say distances in metres and kilometres, and follow directions with 往.
Audio preview uses your device’s Chinese voice. It is not a recording.
Warm-up: do you remember?
Two quick questions from earlier lessons. Recalling before you learn makes the new material stick.
Meaning
What does 公共汽车 mean?
That is 当然 (dāngrán).
That is 短 (duǎn).
Show the answer
Answer: B, bus.
公共汽车 (gōnggòng qìchē) means bus.
Characters
Which word means “from”?
矮 (ǎi) means short (in height).
胖 (pàng) means fat, plump.
Show the answer
Answer: B, 从.
“from” is 从 (cóng).
Listening
From an earlier unit. Listen. What does the word mean?
Cannot listen? Read it instead
旧 jiù
That would be 帮忙 (bāngmáng).
That would be 最 (zuì).
Show the answer
Answer: C, old (of things).
You heard 旧 (jiù): old (of things).
New words
A 离 B 远 or 近
离 (lí) measures the distance between two places: A 离 B 很近, A is close to B.
我家离公司很近。
Wǒ jiā lí gōngsī hěn jìn.
My home is close to the office.
银行离这儿远吗？
Yínháng lí zhèr yuǎn ma?
Is the bank far from here?
Not:
我家从公司很近。But: 我家离公司很近。 Wǒ jiā lí gōngsī hěn jìn.
Distance takes 离; 从 is for from A to B.
For an exact distance: 离这儿两公里, two kilometres from here. 米 is a metre.
超市离这儿两百米。
Chāoshì lí zhèr liǎng bǎi mǐ.
The supermarket is two hundred metres from here.
Directions with 往
往 (wǎng) + direction + verb gives directions: 往前走, go straight on; 往左走, go left. 请问 is excuse me, may I ask.
请问，附近有银行吗？
Qǐng wèn, fùjìn yǒu yínháng ma?
Excuse me, is there a bank nearby?
你往前走，在超市左边。
Nǐ wǎngqián zǒu, zài chāoshì zuǒbian.
Go straight on; it's to the left of the supermarket.
走路去要十分钟。
Zǒulù qù yào shí fēnzhōng.
It's ten minutes on foot.
Characters
Open a character to see how it is written, stroke by stroke, with its meanings and words.
Is there a bank nearby?
David stops Auntie Sun in the street.
Listen first
Play the whole conversation and answer the questions before you open the transcript.
Listening
Listen first. How far is the bank?
Show the answer
Answer: A, 200 m.
两百米: two hundred metres.
Listening
Where is the bank?
Show the answer
Answer: A, to the left of the supermarket.
银行在超市左边.
Show the transcript
大卫
请问，附近有银行吗？
Excuse me, is there a bank nearby?
孙阿姨
有。你往前走，银行在超市左边。
Yes. Go straight on; the bank is to the left of the supermarket.
大卫
离这儿远吗？
Is it far from here?
孙阿姨
不远，两百米，走路三分钟。
Not far. Two hundred metres, three minutes on foot.
大卫
银行离地铁站近吗？
Is the bank close to the subway station?
孙阿姨
很近，就在地铁站旁边。
Very close, right next to the subway station.
Speak: listen, record, compare
Listen to each model, record yourself, then play both and compare: the rhythm, the tones, the vowels. No automatic score: your ear is the judge.
Recordings stay in this browser tab: nothing is uploaded, and they disappear when you leave the page unless you save a copy of a task recording to your device yourself. Your browser asks for the microphone first.
Recording is not available in this browser. Listen, then repeat aloud and compare by ear.
离这儿远吗？
Lí zhèr yuǎn ma?
Is it far from here?
银行离地铁站近吗？
Yínháng lí dìtiě zhàn jìn ma?
Is the bank close to the subway station?
请问，附近有银行吗？
Qǐng wèn, fùjìn yǒu yínháng ma?
Excuse me, is there a bank nearby?
Practice
Meaning
What does 离 mean?
That is 爸爸 (bàba).
That is 累 (lèi).
Show the answer
Answer: B, from (distance).
离 (lí) means from (distance).
Characters
Which word means “kilometre”?
可能 (kěnéng) means maybe, possible.
头发 (tóufa) means hair (on the head).
Show the answer
Answer: B, 公里.
“kilometre” is 公里 (gōnglǐ).
Pinyin
How do you read 附近 (nearby)?
Show the answer
Answer: A, fùjìn.
附近 is read fùjìn. Check the tone mark on every syllable.
Listening
Listen. What does the word mean?
Cannot listen? Read it instead
往 wǎng
That would be 游泳 (yóuyǒng).
That would be 她 (tā).
Show the answer
Answer: B, towards.
You heard 往 (wǎng): towards.
Pinyin
Type the pinyin of 走路 (to walk, on foot). Tone marks or tone numbers are welcome.
Show the answer
Answer: zǒulù
走路 is zǒulù in pinyin.
Grammar
Which sentence means My home is far from the station?
Show the answer
Answer: C, 我家离车站很远。.
我家离车站很远。 A 离 B + 远.
Fill the gap
Complete: Go straight on.
＿＿前走。
Show the answer
Answer: B, 往.
往前走: go straight on.
In context
You are new in the area and want a supermarket. What do you ask?
Show the answer
Answer: B, 请问，附近有超市吗？.
请问，附近有超市吗？: 请问，附近有超市吗: excuse me, is there a supermarket nearby?
Listening
Listen. How far is it?
Cannot listen? Read it instead
离这儿三公里。 Lí zhèr sān gōnglǐ.
Show the answer
Answer: A, 3 km.
三公里: three kilometres.
Around your home
Describe distances around your home, out loud.
- Say what is near your home: 我家离…很近。
- Say one exact distance: …离我家…米 (or 公里)。
- Give directions to it with 往.
Sentence frames
我家离＿＿很近，走路＿＿分钟。
Wǒ jiā lí ＿＿ hěn jìn, zǒulù ＿＿ fēnzhōng.
My home is close to ..., ... minutes on foot.
Record your attempt (three and a half minutes at most) and listen back:
Review and finish
Can you do this? If a line feels shaky, go back to that part before you move on.
- I use 离 for distance and 从 for from A to B.
- I can give directions with 往前, 往左 and 往右.
Review works best spaced out: answer these exercises again tomorrow, then after a few days. Your progress is saved in this browser.
Completing records that you finished the lesson. Mastery is separate: it grows as reviews bring the exercises back and you answer them correctly.