部 边
Pattern
place / area + 部 or 边
Key words
Core idea
部 and 边 help form location words. They can point to a part, side, section, or area.
At this level, treat them as pieces of useful place words rather than as free words to attach anywhere.
What learners often miss
边 often feels local and relative, like a side or nearby area. 部 often feels like a section or region within a larger whole.
Examples
学校北边有公园。
Xuéxiào běibiān yǒu gōngyuán.
There is a park north of the school.
台北在台湾北部。
Táiběi zài Táiwān běibù.
Taipei is in northern Taiwan.
商店旁边有银行。
Shāngdiàn pángbiān yǒu yínháng.
There is a bank next to the shop.
Common mistakes
Avoid
学校北有公园。
Use
学校北边有公园。
For a relative side location, add a location word such as 边 after the direction.
Seen in stories
The Presentation That Kept Moving
办公室的产品演示本来在东边的小会议室。
The office product demo is originally in the small meeting room on the east side.
The Presentation That Kept Moving
投影仪坏了以后，大家把电脑推到西边的大会议室。
After the projector breaks, everyone pushes the computer to the large meeting room on the west side.
The Presentation That Kept Moving
客户刚坐下，市场部又说大会议室要拍广告。
As soon as the clients sit down, the marketing department says the large room is needed for an ad shoot.
The Presentation That Kept Moving
大家只好去北边的休息区。
Everyone has to go to the lounge area on the north side.
The Presentation That Kept Moving
休息区的咖啡机声音太大，技术部同事听不见问题。
The coffee machine in the lounge is too loud, and colleagues from the technical department cannot hear the questions.
Show 8 more story examples
The Presentation That Kept Moving
于是，演示又移到走廊中部。
So the demo moves again to the middle part of the hallway.
The Presentation That Kept Moving
销售部同事立刻把这句话写进了新方案。
A colleague from sales immediately writes that line into the new proposal.
The Bench on the Left
小雨约朋友在公园左边的长椅见面。
Xiao Yu arranges to meet her friend at the bench on the left side of the park.
The Bench on the Left
同一时间，另一位先生也收到讯息：在入口右边等。
At the same time, another man also receives a message: wait on the right side of the entrance.
The Bench on the Left
小雨坐在湖的左边，先生坐在湖的右边。
Xiao Yu sits on the left side of the lake, and the man sits on the right side of the lake.
The Bench on the Left
小雨坐在湖的左边，先生坐在湖的右边。
Xiao Yu sits on the left side of the lake, and the man sits on the right side of the lake.
The Bench on the Left
最后他们坐到中间的草地上，把左右边的问题一起吃掉。
In the end, they sit on the grass in the middle and eat away the left-right problem together.
The Rooftop Bento Party
为了不打扰楼下，管委会把桌子排在靠近水塔的那一边。
In order not to disturb the downstairs neighbors, the committee arranged the tables near the water tower.