Chinese word

朝

Pronunciation

Pinyincháo

Meaning

  • prepositiontoward

Example

我的窗户朝南。wǒ de chuāng hù cháo nán

My window faces south.

Illustration for 朝 (toward)

More examples

教室的窗户朝东，上午阳光照得很明亮。jiào shì de chuāng hù cháo dōng shàng wǔ yáng guāng zhào de hěn míng liàng

The classroom window faces east, and the morning sunlight shines in brightly.

Core concept

An orientation toward what lies ahead, from a physical direction to the start of a new day.

Common phrases

  • 朝南cháo nán

    face south

  • 朝东cháo dōng

    face east

  • 朝北cháo běi

    face north

Similar words

向xiàng: Marks the direction toward which a person or thing is turned or directed.
往wǎng: Marks the place or direction toward which someone or something moves.

Definition in Chinese

作介词，表示面向某一方向或对象，说明事物或动作的朝向，常用于指方位，如“窗户朝南”。zuò jiè cí biǎo shì miàn xiàng mǒu yì fāng xiàng huò duì xiàng shuō míng shì wù huò dòng zuò de cháo xiàng cháng yòng yú zhǐ fāng wèi rú chuāng hù cháo nán

Word origin

The directional preposition 朝 (cháo, "toward") comes from an older use of the character for facing or going toward something, distinct from its time-of-day sense.

Usage tips

  • English often needs a verb such as "face" or "open onto," whereas Chinese can place this preposition before a compass direction or destination without adding a separate facing verb.

Other meanings

  • morningnoun

Related words

Word lists with this word