Chinese Grammar│Direction words in Chinese

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→ Chinese Demonstrative Pronouns
→ Chinese Grammar│的 de

Introduce：Direction words in Chinese
About "in, at, on, under" ...etc in Chinese

I list out the grammars and teach people how to describe the location.

在 zài；The most basic word to express the location
locate at；在 zài
Normally , people uses「在 zài」to point out the position or location

at Taiwan
在台灣[湾]
zài tái wān

I'm at Taiwan
我在台灣
wǒ zài tái wān

在 zài + noun + 的 de + position
Use「的 de」to define the relation between the noun and direction.

Under table; u
在  桌子    的       下面
at  table         down side
zài zhuō zi de xià miàn

List for vocabularies of direction
front；     前面；      qián miàn
rear；      後[后]面；hòu miàn
left；       左面；       zuǒ miàn
right；     右面；      yòu miàn
above/ over/on /upon；上面；shàng miàn
under/ below/ beneath；下面；xià miàn
inside；  裡[里]面, 中；lǐ ,zhōng
outside；外面；      wài miàn
middle； 中間[间]；zhōng jiān
nearby； 附近, 周遭；fù jìn, zhōu zāo
around；四周, 周圍[围]；sì zhōu, zhōu wéi
next；     旁邊[边], 隔壁；páng biān, gébì

What is「的 de」?

「的 de」is a particle, there are many kind of usages in Chinese.
 In this article, I explain simply for 3 different meaning only.

 If you want to know more , please read Usage of「的 de」.

Usage 1：To indicates the ownership
  Noun + 的 de + Noun 

e.g. My table
       我的桌子
       wǒ de zhuō zi

Usage 2：To define the relation between the noun and direction.
  Noun + 的 de + Direction
e.g. Under table
       桌子的下面
       zhuō zi de xià miàn

Usage 3：to link the modifier phrases or clauses with someone or something.
  Adj + 的 de + Noun 

e.g. beautiful table
       漂亮的桌子
       piào liang de zhuō zi

When can「的 de」be omit?
When talking about location ,you can omit「的 de」with usage 1 or usage 2 above.

(1) Under my table
     在我的桌子的下面
      zài wǒ de zhuō zi de xià miàn

(2) Under my table
     在我桌子的下面
      zài wǒ zhuō zi de xià miàn

(3) Under my table

     在我的桌子下面
      zài wǒ de zhuō zi xià miàn

(4) Under my table
     在我桌子下面
      zài wǒ zhuō zi xià miàn

Should not omit「的 de」for below example 
Because below「的 de」belongs to usage 3, so you cannot omit it.
     Under my most beautiful table
     在我最漂亮的桌子下面
     zài wǒ zuì piào liang de zhuō zi xià miàn

Different suffixes of direction vocabularies

We can use different suffixes for direction vocabularies
There is no different among them.

＊ In different areas or countries ,Chinese user may use different suffixes.

front；前面；      qián miàn
        ； 前方；      qián fāng
rear；  後[后]面；hòu miàn
       ； 後[后]方； hòu fāng
left；   左面；       zuǒ miàn
      ；  左方；        zuǒ fāng
      ；  左邊[边]； zuǒ biān
right；右面；       yòu miàn
        ；右方；       yòu fāng
        ；右邊[边]； yòu biān

above/ over/ on /upon；上面；shàng miàn

                                     ；上方；shàng fāng

under/ below/ beneath；下面；xià miàn

                                      ；下方；xià fāng

Special usage when omitting「的 de」

When omitting「的 de」,below direction vocabularies can be used by single character.

front；     前；      qián
rear；      後[后]；hòu
on ；       上；      shàng
under；   下；      xià
inside；   裡[里]；lǐ
                 中；      zhōng
outside； 外；      wài
next；      旁；      páng

Let us see below examples：

(1) Under my table
     在我的桌子下
      zài wǒ de zhuō zi xià

(2) Under my table
     在我桌子下
      zài wǒ zhuō zi xià

In another hand, once we use the single character to express the location, we should omit the「的 de」.

e.g. Under my table
       在我桌子的下 (wrong, should remove 的 de)
        zài wǒ zhuō zi de xià  (wrong, should remove 的 de)

Usage of「之 zhī」

「之 zhī」is the ancient Chinese of「的 de」, and people still keep using frequently now. 

There are also many usage of「之 zhī」.

For expressing the location ,people should follow below grammars/ phrases.

in front of；在...之前；zài... zhī qián
in rear of ；在...之後[后]；zài... zhī hòu
on the top of；在...之上；zài... zhī shàng
under/ below/ beneath；在...之下；zài... zhī xià
among ,between；在...之間[间]；zài... zhī jiān
among ,between；在...之中；zài... zhī zhōng
out of, outside；在...之外；zài... zhī wài
next；在...之旁；zài... zhī páng

Let us see below examples：

(1) Under my table
     在我的桌子之下
      zài wǒ de zhuō zi zhī xià
(2) Under my table
     在我桌子之下
      zài wǒ zhuō zi zhī xià

In another hand, once we use the usage of「之 zhī」, we should omit the「的 de」.
     Under my table
     在我桌子的之下 (wrong, should remove 的 de)
     zài wǒ zhuō zi de zhī xià (wrong, should remove 的 de)