In this episode, we’ve learned how to describe locations in Taiwanese and some commonly used location suffixes.
(These show notes use tables and rich formatting. Please visit the episode webpage for an optimal viewing experience.)
INDICATING THE LOCATION OF SOMETHING
To indicate the location of something, you can use the sentence pattern below:
something + tī + location phrase
The verb “tī” means “to be located in/at”, and can also be used as a preposition. In fact, many prepositions in Taiwanese come from verbs so sometimes they are also called “coverbs”.
The “location phrase” is essentially a noun. It can be formed by adding a general location word or a location suffix to the noun that serves as the reference point.
Here are some examples:
| Tshiú-ki-á | tī | toh-á | -tíng. |
| cellphone | to be located at | table | top/above/on |
| “The cellphone is on the table.” | |||
| Piān-sóo | tī | lâu-tíng. | |
| restroom | to be located at | upstairs | |
| “The restroom is upstairs.” | |||
*Syllables that require tone changes have been greyed out.
ASKING FOR THE LOCATION OF SOMETHING
As we’ve mentioned before, questions in Taiwanese don’t change the order of the sentence from a regular statement. To ask “where is something?”, you could simply replace the location phrase with the interrogative word “tó-uī”.
For example, when asking "where is the restroom?", you can say:
| Piān-sóo | tī | tó-uī? |
| restroom | to be located at | where |
SENTENCES AND VOCABULARY
Here are the words and phrases used in this episode.
| TAIWANESE | ENGLISH |
| Piān-sóo tī tó-uī? | Where is the restroom? |
| piān-sóo | restroom(s)
Cultural note: the Taiwanese word for restroom came from the Japanese word 便所 (べんじょ) (benjo). There are many loanwords from Japanese in the Taiwanese language since Taiwanese was once under the Japanese rule. |
| tī | to be located somewhere |
| tó-uī / tueh | where, which place
Pronunciation note: “tó-uī” can also be contracted as “tueh”. |
| Piān-sóo tī hia. | The restroom is over there. |
| tsia | here |
| hia | there |
| lāi-té | inside; inside of something |
| guā-kháu | outside; outside of something |
| lâu-tíng | the floor(s) above, upstairs
Grammar note: “-tíng” is a suffix meaning above or on the top of |
| lâu-kha | the floor(s) below, downstairs
Grammar note: “-kha” is a suffix meaning under or beneath; also means “leg” or “foot” |
| ē-kha | a general location term meaning below or under |
| tī tshù-lāi / tī tshù lāi-té | to be in the house, at home
Grammar note: “-lāi” is a suffix meaning in or inside of |
| tshù | house |
| tshù-tíng | on top of the house; rooftop |
| tshù-kha | tenant or renter |
| tshiú-ki-á | cellphone, mobile phone |
| toh-á | table |
For more about how to indicate locations and more location words, go check out our downloadable workbook! It also gives you additional vocabulary with characters, pronunciation notes, grammar explanations, culture tips, and fun exercises to help your practice.
NOTE: We are working through some production issues with our workbooks, so we apologize for the delay. We hope to have this workbook chapter available online by next week. Thank you for your patience.
Music Credit: TeknoAXE
Can I suggest a topic? It would be great if you could cover how to say things like “Do you speak Taiwanese?”, “I can speak Taiwanese a little”, “Do you understand what I’m saying right now?”, and related expressions. Thanks!
Hi Alex,
Thanks for your suggestion! This was actually a topic we were going to cover in about 2 more episodes, but we went ahead and moved it up ; ) We do have a plan for which topics we’re going to cover this season, but we’re flexible and open to hearing from our listeners about what they’re interested in learning. So, if you have other ideas, please feel free to let us know, and we’ll see if we can work them in! Hope you enjoy the episode!