东/東 dōng — east

Meanings

1. 1

   east

   The direction the sun rises from. Like the other three points of the compass it rarely stands alone in a sentence: you say 东边 or 东面 for "to the east", and 东 by itself lives inside compounds — 东方, 山东.

   noun

   Do not read 东西 as "east–west": pronounced dōngxi it is the everyday word for "thing", and the tie to the compass points has long since been lost.

Example sentences

• 银行在学校的东边。/銀行在學校的東邊。Yínháng (second tone, rising) zài (fourth tone, falling) xuéxiào (second tone, rising) de (neutral tone) dōngbiān. (first tone, high and level)···

  The bank is to the east of the school.

• 太阳从东边出来。/太陽從東邊出來。Tàiyáng (fourth tone, falling) cóng (second tone, rising) dōngbiān (first tone, high and level) chūlái. (first tone, high and level)···

  The sun comes up in the east.

Common mistakes

• Not quite我家在学校东。

  Correct我家在学校的东边。

  A bare compass point cannot serve as a place. Add 边 or 面 to make it one — 东边, 南面 — just as 上 becomes 上面 and 里 becomes 里面.

Similar words