离
Pattern
A 离 B + distance / adjective
Key words
Core idea
离 introduces the reference point for distance. The distance, time remaining, or adjective such as near or far comes after that reference point.
It can work with physical distance and with time until an event.
Word order note
Put the 离 phrase before the distance description. Do not translate English “far from” by placing the reference point at the end.
Examples
学校离我家很近。
Xuéxiào lí wǒ jiā hěn jìn.
The school is very close to my home.
车站离这里两公里。
Chēzhàn lí zhèlǐ liǎng gōnglǐ.
The station is two kilometers from here.
现在离下课还有十分钟。
Xiànzài lí xiàkè hái yǒu shí fēnzhōng.
There are still ten minutes until class ends.
Common mistakes
Avoid
学校很近离我家。
Use
学校离我家很近。
The 离 phrase comes before the distance or adjective.
Seen in stories
The Shortcut Through the Park
地图说，公园离图书馆很近。
The map says the park is close to the library.
The Shortcut Through the Park
他走进公园，发现湖离大门不远。
He walks into the park and finds the lake is not far from the gate.
The Shortcut Through the Park
小桥离湖也很近，桥上有人卖画。
The little bridge is also close to the lake, and someone is selling paintings on it.
The Shortcut Through the Park
等他走出公园，图书馆离他只有二十米。
When he leaves the park, the library is only twenty meters from him.
The Book That Took the Mountain Train
山线小书店离车站只有两分钟。
The mountain-line bookshop is only two minutes from the station.
Show 4 more story examples
The Book That Took the Mountain Train
有天，一个学生还书，说这本书离家比他还远。
One day, a student returns a book and says this book has been farther from home than he has.
The Book That Took the Mountain Train
后来，另一个乘客看见书签，知道书店离本站不远。
Later, another passenger saw the bookmark and knew the bookshop was not far from this station.
The Book That Took the Mountain Train
学生很不好意思，因为他从来没离那座山这么近过。
The student is embarrassed because he has never been this close to that mountain before.
Hiking Elephant Mountain
“加油！这里离山顶已经不远了，快到了！”
"Come on! We are not far from the peak now, we are almost there!"
'離' (lí) is a preposition used to express the distance between two places or times. Here it means 'from'.