在 + Place + 上 / 下 / 里 / 旁边 (location)
Where exactly?
- at / in在 + Place + (bound form) up上 / down下 / li, ancient measure of…里 / side旁边 pins a precise location.
- at / in在table桌子(bound form) up上 (on the table), at / in在variant of 床床down下 (under the bed), at / in在包里 (in the bag).
- The position word comes after the place noun.
at / in在 + Place + (bound form) up上 / down下 / li, ancient measure of…里 / side旁边
- The position word (to place after (e.g. in…后置) tells you where in relation to the place.
book书is在table桌子on上。
- book书at / in在table桌子(bound form) up上 = "the book is on the table."
Practice
The book is on the table: 书在桌子 ____。
在 + Place + 上 / 下 / 里 = location: 在桌子上.
Practice
在床下 means “under the bed”.
Yes — 下 = under: 在床下.
Word order flips from English
- English: "on the table"; Chinese: table桌子 + (bound form) up上 (table-on).
Explore
Correct or broken?
在 + place + 上/下/里/旁边 pins the location — the little word lands at the END.
Practice
Where does the position word (上 / 里…) go?
Chinese: 桌子 + 上 (table-on), opposite of English.
Recap
Key idea
- at / in在 + Place + (bound form) up上 / down下 / li, ancient measure of…里 / side旁边 — precise location
- at / in在table桌子(bound form) up上 · at / in在variant of 床床down下 · at / in在包里 · at / in在gate门side旁边
- The position word follows the place noun
Read the full reference: HSK 4 grammar — Sentence patterns.