Traditional Chinese has a handful of small but mighty words that wear two hats: one day they’re a verb, the next they’re a preposition pointing you toward a location, a direction, or the person you’re with. Coverbs and prepositions like 在, 對, and 用 might look harmless, but they glue your sentences together and stop you sounding like a blunt tourist phrasebook.
This list hands you around 40 of the most common coverbs and prepositions you’ll meet in everyday Traditional Chinese-not dusty textbook relics, just the practical connectors that keep conversations flowing. Every entry comes with a clear meaning and a natural example sentence, so you can see exactly how the word behaves in real talk, not just a translation that leaves you guessing.
Little grammar gremlins, gather round: if you want to get comfy with the bits that sit before verbs and help Chinese sentences do their magic, SCROLL TO THE BOTTOM for the free printable Traditional Chinese coverbs and prepositions vocabulary list PDF and the free downloadable printable Traditional Chinese coverbs and prepositions flashcards.
Want more than one list? Browse our Traditional Chinese section for more Yak Yacker study pages, printable lists, and quiz-friendly review material.
Quick Quiz
Fancy a quick warm-up? The quiz below will test how many of these coverbs you already recognize-no grades, just a friendly nudge toward the ones that need a second glance.
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| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| A | ||
| B | ||
| 八 | bā | eight |
| 包 | bāo | package of, parcel of/ to wrap, to contain |
| 包子 | bāozi | steamed pork bun |
| 北 | běi | north |
| 半 | bàn | half |
| 吧 | ba | question particle, implying probability / sentence suffix, indicating a request |
| 啊 | a | ah, an exclamation |
| 報紙 | bàozhǐ | newspaper, newsprint |
| 安全 | ānquán | safety / to be safe, secure |
| 安靜 | ānjìng | to be quiet, calm, peaceful |
| 幫 | bāng | to help, to assist |
| 幫忙 | bāngmáng | to help someone do something |
| 愛 | ài | to love / be apt to |
| 把 | bǎ | indicating pre-verbal object as thing dealt with by the action |
| 抱 | bào | to hug, to embrace, to hold or carry in one's arms |
| 搬 | bān | to move |
| 本 | běn | Individual measure word for books or magazines, etc. |
| 本子 | běnzi | book, notebook, edition |
| 杯 | bēi | A cup of |
| 杯子 | bēizi | cup |
| 棒 | bàng | good; fine; excellent, great! |
| 棒球 | bàngqiú | baseball |
| 比 | bǐ | to compare; compared to, than |
Free Traditional Chinese Coverbs and Prepositions PDF and Flashcards to Download
You can download the Traditional Chinese coverbs and prepositions vocabulary list with the purple vocab-list button, and grab the Traditional Chinese coverbs and prepositions flashcards with the teal flashcards button. Both are 100% free, with no signup required.
