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plCommon errors
1. Syntactic error
Especially in more complex sentences, learners may struggle to place ‘在’ correctly. These are some of the most common syntactical errors.
1.1 Incorrect position
Learners might place a prepositional phrase with ‘在’ at the end of the sentence or after the verb.
*我买茶在超市。/ *我買茶在超市。
*我买在超市茶。/ *我買在超市茶。
我在超市买茶。/ 我在超市買茶。
1.2 Incorrect position of negation or modal verb
Learners might place a negation or modal verb directly before the verb, instead of the more common position before the prepositional phrase.
我在超市不买茶。/ 我在超市不買茶。
我不在超市买茶。/ 我不在超市買茶。
我在超市想买茶。/ 我在超市想買茶。
我想在超市买茶。/ 我想在超市買茶。
While the first sentence in each pair may be acceptable in certain contexts, beginners should first learn that the most common position for a negation or modal verb is before the prepositional phrase.
1.3 Omission
Learners might leave out ‘在’ entirely, especially if their native language does not use a similar preposition.
*你哪里/哪儿买茶? / *你哪裡/哪兒買茶?
你在哪里/哪儿买茶? / 你在哪裡/哪兒買茶?
Where do you buy tea?
*我喜欢外面看书。/ *我喜歡外面看書。
我喜欢在外面看书。/ 我喜歡在外面看書。
I like to read outside.
1.4 Misuse
Learners might mistakenly use a ‘double 在’ when combining a location with the progressive aspect marker ‘在’, not realizing that ‘在’ should only be used once.
A: 你在做什么? / 你在做什麼?
B: *我在在超市买东西。/ *我在在超市買東西。
B: 我在超市买东西。/ 我在超市買東西。
2. Semantic error
2.1 Learners might confuse ‘在’ with other prepositions like ‘到’ which indicates direction rather than location.
我到超市买茶。/ 我到超市買茶。
I go to the supermarket to buy tea.
This sentence emphasizes the action of going to the supermarket to buy tea, with ‘到’ indicating movement towards the supermarket.
我在超市买茶。/ 我在超市買茶。
I buy tea at the supermarket.
This sentence focuses on the action of buying tea that takes place at the supermarket, with ‘在’ indicating the location of the action.
2.2 Confusing ‘在’ as a preposition and as a verb.
Learners might overuse ‘在’ or use a wrong verb in sentences with ‘在’ as the main verb.
*我们在在公园。/ *我們在在公園。
*我们是在公园。/ *我們是在公園。
*我们在公园是。/ *我們在公園是。
我们在公园。/ 我們在公園。
2.3 Confusing ‘在’ as a preposition and as a complement
The preposition ‘在’ can function both as a preposition and as a location complement in Chinese. When used as a preposition, ‘在’ indicates where an action takes place and comes before the verb.
*我工作在学校。/ *我工作在學校。
*学生都学习在教室里。/ *學生都學習在教室里。
Neither ‘工作’ nor ‘学习/學習’ imply a motion towards the location and the structure with ‘在’ and the location as a prepositional phrase preceding the verbs must be used.
我在学校工作。/ 我在學校工作。
学生都在教室里学习。/ 學生都在教室里學習。
However, ‘在’ can also follow certain verbs as a complement to show the final location of an action. This is particularly common in sentences with the ‘把’ structure or after verbs that involve movement, placement, or positioning, such as ‘坐’, ‘放’, ‘站’, ‘停’ or ‘住’. This dual use can be confusing for learners, especially since they might encounter verbs that typically require a location complement early in their studies. This can lead to uncertainty about whether ‘在’ should precede or follow the verb in a sentence.
车停在学校的门口。/ 車停在學校的門口。
我可以坐在这儿吗？/ 我可以坐在這兒嗎？
我把车停在停车场。/ 我把車停在停車場。
Both ‘停’ and ‘坐’ are placement verbs that express a state of rest at a certain location as the result of that action. The use of a location complement is thus correct. However, for beginners it might be easier to use a prepositional phrase.
车在学校的门口停。/ 車在學校的門口停。
我可以在这儿坐吗？/ 我可以在這兒坐嗎？
我在停车场停车。/ 我在停車場停車。
2.4 Confusing ‘在’ with noun localizers
The preposition ‘在’ show location. Similarly, location words such as ‘里’, ‘上’, and ‘中’ also convey spatial relationships and like ‘在’ they can be translated into ‘at’, ‘in’ and ‘on’. In some contexts, it is also possible to see both ‘在’ and a location word in the same sentence. Learners may therefore have problems choosing between ‘在’ and a location word and whether to include both in a sentence.
While ‘在’ indicates the general location of an action, the location words specify more detailed positions within that general location. In sentences where both are used, the ‘在’ sets the scene and the place word clarifies the specific location.
If a location is expressed by a place word, localizers are usually not needed, unless we want to be more specific about the position (e.g. behind the restaurant). On the other hand, if location is indicated by a noun (table, chair), then a localizer is needed (桌子上，手机上/手機上).
他在家里学汉语。/ 他在家裡學漢語。
The location word ‘里’ emphasises that the subject is not just studying ‘at home’, but ‘within’ the home.
她在手机上看电影。/ 她在手機上看電影。
The location word ‘上’ emphasises that the movie is being ‘on’ the phone.
Errors caused by native transfer
‘在’ translates as ‘at,’ ‘in,’ and ‘on’ and the polysemy might confuse learners.
Learners often use an ‘imitative’ approach, applying sentence structures from their native language directly to Chinese. This can result in errors such placing the prepositional phrase after the verb or omitting ‘在’ in questions with the interrogative pronoun 哪里/哪儿 – 哪裡/哪兒.