Want to actually learn this — with audio, spaced repetition and progress tracking?

Study in the app →

Help improve this content. If something looks off, let us know →

Mandarin Chinese · HSK 3.0 Band 2 · Chapter 13

离这儿不远 It's not far from here

Lí zhèr bù yuǎn

Two grammar lessons: the formal 离 lesson (introduced as vocab in ch6 / ch8 — distance preposition: A 离 B + adj/distance) and a light intro to (在)…以前 / 以后 (time-relative phrases — ch15 has the full lesson).

离这儿不远 — It's not far from here

  1. 周雨 zhāngtiān, jiādiànzhèéryuǎnma? Zhang Tian, is that place far from here?
  2. 张天 yuǎn. yuēzhèérdàogōng. Not far. Roughly less than a kilometer.
  3. 周雨 hěnjìn. menzǒuguòma? That's close. Should we walk?
  4. 张天 xíng. gàishífēnzhōngjiùdào. OK. Roughly ten minutes and we're there.
  5. 周雨 hǎo, chū! Good, let's go!

出发以前 — Before setting off

  1. 张天 zhōu, zhǔnbèihǎolema? Zhou Yu, are you ready?
  2. 周雨 chàduō. chūqiányàokànxià. Almost. Before we leave I want to check.
  3. 张天 hǎo. yàoshēngshuōhuà, gāowénháizàishuìjiào. OK. Don't talk loudly — Gao Wen is still sleeping.
  4. 周雨 hǎosi, ānjìngxiē. Sorry, I'll be quieter.
  5. 张天 méiguān. mendàoménwàijiàn. No problem. See you at the front gate.

不客气 — You're welcome

  1. 周雨 zhāngtiān, bāngzhǔnbèilehěnduōdōng西, xièxiè! Zhang Tian, you helped me prepare a lot of things, thanks!
  2. 张天 . menshìpéngyǒu. You're welcome. We're friends.
  3. 周雨 tàile. You're too kind.
  4. 张天 yòng. menmíngtiānchū, zhǔnbèihǎolema? No need to be polite. We set off tomorrow — are you ready?
  5. 周雨 zhǔnbèihǎole! All ready!
汉字พินอินชนิดคำความหมาย
yuǎn adj. far (revisit ch6)
jìn adj. near; close (revisit ch6)
prep. distance from — A 离 B + adj/distance (revisit ch6 / ch8; formal lesson here)
大约 dàyuē adv. about; approximately
大概 dàgài adv. roughly; probably
大门 dàmén n. front gate; main entrance
大小 dàxiǎo n. size (Level 1 大/小 combined into a compound noun)
大声 dàshēng adv. loudly (pair with 安静)
安静 ānjìng adj. quiet; peaceful (revisit ch5)
客气 kèqi adj. polite; courteous
不客气 bú kèqi exp. you're welcome (response to 谢谢)
准备 zhǔnbèi v. prepare; get ready (sets up ch14-15 departure)
汉字พินอินชนิดคำความหมาย
yuē about; appointment (in 大约) 大约 dàyuē — about; approximately
gài general; outline (in 大概) 大概 dàgài — roughly; probably
zhōng (in 分钟 = minute) 分钟 fēnzhōng — minute
shēng (in 大声 = loudly (pair with 安静)) 大声 dàshēng — loudly (pair with 安静)

yuǎn far (revisit ch6; promoted to writing focus here as 离 lesson formalises) เขียน

7 strokes left-right radical 辶

jìn near; close (revisit ch6) เขียน

7 strokes left-right radical 辶

distance from (revisit ch6/ch8; formal lesson here) เขียน

10 strokes top-bottom

bèi prepare (in 准备 — chapter departure-prep anchor) เขียน

8 strokes top-bottom

备 originally meant "complete / fully equipped". Modern: "prepare / get ready" — 准备 (prepare), 准备好 (be ready), 不备 (unprepared). The chapter anchors this for ch14-15's departure scenarios.

zhǔn standard; (in 准备 = prepare); accurate จดจำ

10 strokes left-right

big (Level 1 revisit; 6 chapter compounds use 大: 大约 / 大概 / 大门 / 大小 / 大声) จดจำ

3 strokes single-component

yuē about; appointment (in 大约) จดจำ

6 strokes left-right radical 纟

gài general; outline (in 大概) จดจำ

13 strokes left-right radical 木

Phono-semantic compound: 木 (wood) radical + 既 (jì, phonetic). Original sense: "a wooden tool for leveling grain in a measure" → "to roughly equalize / approximate". Modern: "approximate / general / outline" — 大概 (roughly / probably), 概念 (concept), 概括 (summarize / generalize). The 概 character is rare standalone but extremely common as a compound component.

ān peaceful (revisit ch5; in 安静 here) จดจำ

6 strokes top-bottom radical 宀

jìng quiet (revisit ch5; in 安静 here) จดจำ

14 strokes left-right

A 离 B + 形容词 / 距离 — distance between two places A 离 B + adj/distance — describing how far apart two places are

"离"是描述两个地点距离的介词. 句式: A 离 B + 形容词 (远 / 近) 或者 A 离 B + 数量(具体距离). 注意: (1) "离"后面不接动词——"离北京远"对, "离北京去"错. (2) 跟 ch8 的"从"完全不同——"从"是动态(从X来), "离"是静态(离X远). 同样翻译"from", 但在中文里区别明显. (3) 表达粗略距离时常用"大约 / 大概"修饰: "大约离这儿一公里".

离 is a static-distance preposition: A 离 B + adj/distance describes how far apart A and B are. Two patterns: (1) A 离 B + adj — adjectival distance: 这儿离机场远 ("here is far from the airport"). (2) A 离 B + numeric distance: 这儿离机场一公里 ("here is 1km from the airport"). KEY pattern rule: 离 NEVER takes a verb. 离北京远 (correct) vs 离北京去 (wrong). KEY contrast with ch8's 从: 从 is DYNAMIC origin (从北京来 = "come from Beijing"); 离 is STATIC distance (离北京远 = "far from Beijing"). Both translate "from" in English; Chinese keeps them strictly separate. Pair with 大约 / 大概 for approximation: 大约离这儿一公里 ("roughly 1km from here").

  • 机场离这儿不远. Jīchǎng lí zhèr bù yuǎn. The airport's not far from here.
  • 我家离学校很近. Wǒ jiā lí xuéxiào hěn jìn. My place is very close to the school.
  • 大约离这儿不到一公里. Dàyuē lí zhèr bú dào yì gōnglǐ. Roughly less than a kilometer from here.
  • 北京离上海大概一千多公里. Běijīng lí Shànghǎi dàgài yì qiān duō gōnglǐ. Beijing is about 1000+ kilometers from Shanghai.

(在)…以前 / 以后 — "before" and "after" (light intro) (在)…以前 / 以后 — light intro (full lesson in ch15)

"以前"和"以后"是"时间相对于某事件"的表达——一个事情发生的前 / 后. 句式: (在)+事件+以前/以后. 例: "出发以前要准备", "回家以后我们见面". 这一课只学基本用法, ch15 会全面学这个家族(以前 / 以后 / 前 / 后 + 表达独立的"以前 / 以后"= long ago / from now on). 注意: 不要跟 ch7 的"前面 / 后面"混淆——那是空间, 这是时间.

以前 ("before") and 以后 ("after") express time relative to an event. The pattern is: (在) + event + 以前 / 以后. Example: 出发以前要准备 = "Before setting off, you have to get ready". 回家以后我们见面 = "After getting home, we'll meet up". This chapter teaches the basic use; ch15 covers the full family (以前 / 以后 / 前 / 后, plus the standalone uses 以前 = "long ago", 以后 = "from now on"). KEY contrast: don't confuse 以前 / 以后 (TIME relative to an event) with ch7's 前面 / 后面 (SPATIAL — in front / behind). Same characters in different combinations; different dimensions.

  • 出发以前要准备. Chūfā yǐqián yào zhǔnbèi. We need to get ready before setting off.
  • 回家以后我们见面. Huí jiā yǐhòu wǒmen jiàn miàn. We'll meet up after we get home.
  • 吃饭以后, 我们走过去. Chī fàn yǐhòu, wǒmen zǒu guò qù. After eating, we'll walk over.

Want to actually learn this — with audio, spaced repetition and progress tracking?

Study in the app →

Report an issue

Spotted an error or have a suggestion? Every report helps us improve this content.