Mandarin · Chapter 7 · Lesson 8 · Grammar primer
Location and existence
Prescribed by the AQA specification.
The short version
在 (zài) for where a thing is, 有 (yǒu) for what is there
Subject + 在 (zài) + place answers 'where is X?': 书在桌子上 (shū zài zhuō zi shàng). Place + 有 (yǒu) + thing answers 'what is at X?': 桌子上有一本书 (zhuō zi shàng yǒu yì běn shū), and whatever follows 有 (yǒu) is always indefinite. Swap them and you get 桌子上有那本书 (zhuō zi shàng yǒu nà běn shū), which does not work for 'that book is on the table'.
桌子上有一本书。 Zhuō zi shàng yǒu yì běn shū.
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One question at a time, mixed across the exercises in this lesson. Miss one and it comes back round before the end.
Lesson 8 of 10 in this chapter