BONUS: Relator - Towards What Direction with 往

Reminder About Relators

When I was a kid, the word “preposition” made my brain shut off. There was (and still is) something about linguistic jargon that aggravated me because it always felt so pointless. 

When I started learning about Chinese grammar, I came across the word 介词 jiècí - ‘preposition,’ but instead of my brain shutting off, I suddenly realized that prepositions are “relators.” 介 is the main character in the word “介绍 jièshào - to introduce.” Another way to conceptualize “introducing” is “to create a new relationship.” Now, the idea of a ‘preposition’ wasn’t so scary. They’re mere ‘relators’!

That’s why, in The Mandarin Blueprint Method, we refer to prepositions as “relators.” All sentences that contain a preposition will be marked with the tag “GW-Relator.” 

How do people, places, things, events, etc., relate to each other? Is someone doing something “for” someone else? How about “to” them? What’s the origin “from” one thing to another, or distance “from” two places? We’ll discuss all of these and more in our “GW-Relator” lessons. 

GW-Relator-Towards-What-Direction-介词-往

You use 往 to indicate what direction the subject is taking action towards. It’s a different word order than English. For example:

Sentence 1:

我们往上面走。 - Level 18
Wǒmen wǎng shàngmian zǒu.
We are walking towards the top.

Subject + 往 + Direction/Location + Action

我们 + 往 + 上面 + 走

In English, we’d say “walking towards the top,” whereas the order in Chinese is “towards the top walking.” You’ve probably picked up by now that Chinese often places the action towards the end of a phrase (with a few exceptions). 

Sentence 2:

我正在往回走！- Level 18
Wǒ zhèngzài wǎng huí zǒu!
I’m heading back now!

Here’s another example using 走 as the action, but in this case, the direction is 回. In English, we’d say “heading” back, but in Chinese, you stick with the same character of “往“ for ’towards’ or ‘heading.’ 

Sentence 3:

一直往前走吧。- Level 22
Yīzhí wǎng qián zǒu ba.
Go straight.

We put this sentence here because it’s one of the most common phrases you’ll say to a taxi driver. It’s literally “Straight (一直) towards (往) the front (前) go (走).

Sentence 4:

往前一步是进，往后一步是退。 - Level 25
Wǎng qián yī bù shì jìn, wǎng hòu yībù shì tuì.
One step forward is progression, and one step back is regression.

In this case, the action is “一步,” and the direction is either forward (前) or backward (后). In this sentence, the entire phrase is the subject, with a basic Subject + Verb + Object structure.

Subject: 往前(后)一步
Verb: 是
Object: 进 (退)

"Keep Going" Usage

往下 + Action - Keep doing "Action"

While it’s possible that 往下 literally means “down towards,” it can also mean “keep going.” For example:

往下讲。
Wǎng xià jiǎng.
Keep talking.

往下读/看。
Wǎng xià dú/kàn.
Keep reading.

A Written Usage of 往

When you’re at a train station, airport, or other location that has transportation signage, you’ll notice the following structure:

Action + 往 + Place or Direction

飞往成都的飞机
Fēi wǎng Chéngdū de fēijī.
Airplane headed to Chengdu.

运往芝加哥的货物。
Yùn wǎng Zhījiāgē de huòwù.
Cargo shipped to Chicago.

Now that you’ve seen 往 used in these different contexts, lookout for it moving forward in your reading and listening.

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