2 · Time and place
How far from: lí
distance between two places
Lí measures the gap between two places: A lí B, then near, far or a distance.
离 says how far one place is from another: 学校离我家很近, “the school is close to my home”. The pattern is A + 离 + B + near, far or a distance. Unlike 从, it does not mark the start of a journey; it measures a gap, and nobody moves.
The commonest mistake comes from English “from”, which does both jobs: learners write 从 where 离 belongs. A simple test helps. If somebody goes, comes, walks or travels, use 从; if the sentence only says near, far or how many kilometres, use 离.
The distance can be a number: 我家离车站两公里, “my home is two kilometres from the station”. The question is 远吗 or 有多远, “how far is it?”. And unlike in a comparison with 比, the adjective after 离 keeps its 很: 很近, 很远.
离 measures time in the same way — the time left before an event: 离考试还有三天, “there are three days to go before the exam”.
The form
| near | 学校离我家很近。 |
| not far | 银行离这儿不远。 |
| a distance | 我家离车站两公里。 |
| question | 你家离公司远吗？ |
| how far? | 机场离市中心有多远？ |
| time left | 离春节还有一个月。 |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is about
A + 离 + B + near, far or a distance: the gap between two places.
超市离这儿很近。The supermarket is very close to here.
Use 离 for a distance and 从 for the starting point of a movement.
我家离公司很远，我每天从家坐地铁去。My home is a long way from the office; every day I take the underground from home.
The adjective after 离 keeps its 很, unlike in a 比 sentence.
医院离学校很远。The hospital is a long way from the school.
离 can also measure the time left before an event.
离考试只有两天了。There are only two days to go before the exam.
A closer look
Lí for time, and líkāi
With an event in place of B, 离 counts down: 离放假还有一个星期, “a week to go until the holidays”. The 还, “still”, is almost always there, because the point is how much time remains.
The same character begins the verb 离开, “to leave”: 他去年离开了北京, “he left Beijing last year”. The two share an idea — being apart from somewhere — but in a distance sentence 离 stands alone, with no 开.
How to spot it
- 离
- 远
- 近
- 多远
Example sentences
地铁站离我家不远。The underground station isn’t far from my home.
你的学校离这儿远吗？Is your school far from here?
北京离天津很近。Beijing is close to Tianjin.
我住的地方离海边只有五百米。Where I live is only five hundred metres from the beach.
商店离车站有多远？How far is the shop from the station?
离开会还有十分钟。There are ten minutes left before the meeting.
7 more example sentences
这个酒店离机场太远了。This hotel is too far from the airport.
我想找一个离公司近一点儿的房子。I want to find a flat a bit closer to the office.
邮局离这儿大概一公里。The post office is about a kilometre from here.
公园离我们这儿挺近的。The park is pretty close to us.
离新年还有一个星期。It is a week until New Year.
我的座位离窗户很近。My seat is near the window.
火车站离这儿有三站路。The railway station is three stops from here.
Worth knowing (1)
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Which place goes first
In meaning, A 离 B is the same as B 离 A. What decides the order is the topic: the place you are talking about goes first. Asked about your flat, you say 我家离地铁站很近, not the other way round.
你家离地铁站近吗？Is your home near an underground station?
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
English “close to” and “far from” tempt learners to use 从, because it is the first “from” they learned. But 从 starts a movement, and nothing moves in this sentence; a distance between two places is 离.
Cóng is where a journey starts; lí is how far apart two places are.
Your turn
8 exercises on this topic. Your answers are checked in the browser; none of them leaves your device.