Chinese-all-day-breakfast/MD/g1-34.md

Position words

Words such as 上邊, 左邊, 前邊, 中間, 對面 are position words. Some of the basic syllables are:

上 - up

左 - left 中 - middle 右 - right

下 - down

前 - front 裡 - in 後 - back 外 - out

Usually, add 邊 to make "on the left", "above", "outside" etc.

Position words can be used in two ways. Compare:

1. Noun (+ 的) + position word:

   車(的)外邊
       outside the car
   房子(的)後邊
       behind the house
   桌子(的)對面
       opposite the table
   

2. Position word + 的 + noun (here the 的 is /mandatory/).

   外邊的車
       the car outside (i.e. the car which is outside)
   後邊的房子
       the house behind (the house which is behind)
   對面的桌子
       the opposite table (the table which is opposite / across the
       way)
   

Notes:

1. When 上邊, 下邊, 裡邊 and 外邊 are modified by other nouns, the character 邊 can be omitted:

   房子(的)裡(邊)
       inside the house
   桌子(的)上(邊)
       on the table
   教室(的)外(邊)
       outside the classroom
   

2. Do /not/ use 裡邊 in the following two cases:

   1. After geographical names such as 中國, 北京 etc:

      她在北京學習漢語。
          She studies Chinese in Beijing.
      but not 她在北京裡邊學習漢語。
      
      美國有很多大學。
          There are many universities in America.
      but not 美國裡邊有很多大學。
      

   2. In a phrase of the form "在 + place, building or organisation":

      我在銀行工作。
          I work in a bank.
      but not 我在銀行裡邊工作。
      
      他們在閱覽室看書。
          They are reading books in the reading-room.
      but not 他們在閱覽室裡邊看書。