4 · 40 words

Geography: land, water and regions

Plains, plateaus, rivers, coasts and the words for regions and provinces.

Geographical words in Chinese are built from a small set of characters: 山(shān) mountain, 原(yuán) open land, 海(hǎi) sea. Put together they name the landscape — 高原(gāoyuán) a plateau, 平原(píngyuán) a plain, 山区(shānqū) mountain country. Both 江(jiāng) and 河(hé) mean river: the great river of the south is the 长江(Chángjiāng), the great river of the north the 黄河(Huánghé), and “south” and “north” are themselves a divide Chinese speakers use all the time.

The words

Verb (2)

位于(wèiyú)to be located (at); to lieVerb4

这(zhè)座(zuò)城市(chéngshì)位于(wèiyú)两(liǎng)条(tiáo)河(hé)中间(zhōngjiān)。This city lies between two rivers.

Written style for 在(zài), as in guidebooks and reports.

分布(fēnbù)to be distributed; to be spread overVerb4

中国(Zhōngguó)的(de)人口(rénkǒu)主要(zhǔyào)分布(fēnbù)在(zài)东部(dōngbù)。Most of China’s population lives in the east.

This list belongs to Nature, weather and the environment — nine lists and 361 words that can also be practised as a whole.

Practise this list

Multiple choice and gaps, drawn from exactly these 40 words. Whatever you get wrong comes back tomorrow.