在

zàiㄗㄞˋ

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HSK 1 TOCFL 5

Meaning

Meanings

1
to exist; to be alive
2
(of sb or sth) to be (located) at
3
(used before a verb to indicate an action in progress)

Examples

See it in context

你在干什麼啊？

你在幹什麼啊？

What are you doing?

我以前在山里。

我以前在山裏。

I was in the mountains.

他在踢我！

He's kicking me!

你是在跟我開玩笑吧？！

Are you freaking kidding me?!

你住在哪里？

你住在哪裏？

Where do you live?

Grammar

Grammar using 在

在

在 (zai) for location · A1 · TOCFL a1

在

在 (zai) for ongoing actions · A1 · TOCFL a1

V + 在

Resulting location with verb + 在 · A2 · TOCFL a2

在 NP 上

Zai Np Shang Regarding (在 NP 上) · B1 · TOCFL b1

Lesson coming later

在…方面

Zai Fangmian Regarding (在…方面) · B1 · TOCFL b1

Lesson coming later

在…下

Zai Xia Under Circumstances (在…下) · B1 · TOCFL b1

Lesson coming later

Show 4 more grammar concepts

在…之餘

Zai Zhiyu Apart From (在…之余) · B1 · TOCFL b1

Lesson coming later

在 A 的同时，也 B

Zai A De Ye B (在 A 的同时，也 B) · B2 · TOCFL b2

Lesson coming later

在…过程中

Zai Guo (在…过程中) · B2 · TOCFL b2

Lesson coming later

在…的当下

Zai De Xia (在…的当下) · C1 · TOCFL c1

Lesson coming later

Characters

Character breakdown

才

cái

ability; talent

土

tǔ

Tu (ethnic group)

Related: 在

何在

hé zài

where?

内在

nèi zài

inner

在世

zài shì

to be alive

在乎

zài hu

to rest with; to lie in; to be due to (a certain attribute)

在场

zài chǎng

to be present; to be on the scene

在座

zài zuò

to be present

在意

zài yì

to care about

在于

zài yú

to rest with; to lie in; to be due to (a certain attribute)

Stroke practice

Practice writing 在

Characters

simplified script

Use Loop to watch the stroke order repeatedly, or start the quiz to practice drawing the character yourself. Reset clears any ongoing animation or quiz state.