Geography: Vocabulary for places, directions, and location words

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Pinyin is the standard romanisation used to show Mandarin pronunciation using the Latin alphabet. You’ll often see tone marks on the vowels to show the four tones (plus the neutral tone), for example mā / má / mǎ / mà / ma. “Numbered pinyin” shows the same tones using a number after the syllable instead of tone marks, for example ma1 / ma2 / ma3 / ma4 / ma (sometimes written as ma5 for the neutral tone). Numbered pinyin is handy when you can’t easily type tone marks, while tone-mark pinyin is usually easier to read once you’re used to it.

北方

• Pinyin: běi fāng
• Numbered pinyin: bei3 fang1
• English translation: the north

边

• Pinyin: biān
• Numbered pinyin: bian1
• English translation: side, edge

出口

• Pinyin: chū kǒu
• Numbered pinyin: chu1 kou3
• English translation: exit

到处

• Pinyin: dào chù
• Numbered pinyin: dao4 chu4
• English translation: everywhere

道

• Pinyin: dào
• Numbered pinyin: dao4
• English translation: road, way

道路

• Pinyin: dào lù
• Numbered pinyin: dao4 lu4
• English translation: road, path

店

• Pinyin: diàn
• Numbered pinyin: dian4
• English translation: shop, store

东北

• Pinyin: dōng běi
• Numbered pinyin: dong1 bei3
• English translation: northeast

东方

• Pinyin: dōng fāng
• Numbered pinyin: dong1 fang1
• English translation: the East

东南

• Pinyin: dōng nán
• Numbered pinyin: dong1 nan2
• English translation: southeast

动物园

• Pinyin: dòng wù yuán
• Numbered pinyin: dong4 wu4 yuan2
• English translation: zoo

对面

• Pinyin: duì miàn
• Numbered pinyin: dui4 mian4
• English translation: opposite, across from

方向

• Pinyin: fāng xiàng
• Numbered pinyin: fang1 xiang4
• English translation: direction

公园

• Pinyin: gōng yuán
• Numbered pinyin: gong1 yuan2
• English translation: park

广场

• Pinyin: guǎng chǎng
• Numbered pinyin: guang3 chang3
• English translation: public square

国际

• Pinyin: guó jì
• Numbered pinyin: guo2 ji4
• English translation: international

海边

• Pinyin: hǎi biān
• Numbered pinyin: hai3 bian1
• English translation: seaside

街

• Pinyin: jiē
• Numbered pinyin: jie1
• English translation: street

近

• Pinyin: jìn
• Numbered pinyin: jin4
• English translation: near, close

酒店

• Pinyin: jiǔ diàn
• Numbered pinyin: jiu3 dian4
• English translation: hotel

离

• Pinyin: lí
• Numbered pinyin: li2
• English translation: to be from, apart

里头

• Pinyin: lǐ tou
• Numbered pinyin: li3 tou5
• English translation: inside

路边

• Pinyin: lù biān
• Numbered pinyin: lu4 bian1
• English translation: roadside

面前

• Pinyin: miàn qián
• Numbered pinyin: mian4 qian2
• English translation: in front of

南方

• Pinyin: nán fāng
• Numbered pinyin: nan2 fang1
• English translation: south

全国

• Pinyin: quán guó
• Numbered pinyin: quan2 guo2
• English translation: the whole country

入口

• Pinyin: rù kǒu
• Numbered pinyin: ru4 kou3
• English translation: entrance

身边

• Pinyin: shēn biān
• Numbered pinyin: shen1 bian1
• English translation: at one’s side

省

• Pinyin: shěng
• Numbered pinyin: sheng3
• English translation: province

市

• Pinyin: shì
• Numbered pinyin: shi4
• English translation: city

天上

• Pinyin: tiān shang
• Numbered pinyin: tian1 shang5
• English translation: in the sky, heaven

头

• Pinyin: tóu
• Numbered pinyin: tou2
• English translation: head, top, beginning

外地

• Pinyin: wài dì
• Numbered pinyin: wai4 di4
• English translation: other places, out of town

西北

• Pinyin: xī běi
• Numbered pinyin: xi1 bei3
• English translation: northwest

西方

• Pinyin: xī fāng
• Numbered pinyin: xi1 fang1
• English translation: the West

西南

• Pinyin: xī nán
• Numbered pinyin: xi1 nan2
• English translation: southwest

中心

• Pinyin: zhōng xīn
• Numbered pinyin: zhong1 xin1
• English translation: centre

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