第三年第二十二天

[nnozomi]

语法
朝/向/往 + direction + V "toward X" (part a)
https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Comparing_%22chao%22_%22xiang%22_and_%22wang%22

词汇
样子, look/appearance; 那样, like that; 什么样, what kind of; 同样, same; 怎(么)样, how/how about; 这样, like this 样子 yàngzi, look/appearance; 那样 nàyàng, like that; 什么样 shénmeyàng, what kind of; 同样 tóngyàng, same; 怎(么)样 zěn(me)yàng, how/how about; 这样 zhèyàng, like this
https://mandarinbean.com/new-hsk-2-word-list/

Guardian:
那时候我一转身，看见她朝我看，然后我就晕了, I turned around, saw her looking at me, and then I fainted
老师说带我们往西北方向走, the professor said he's taking us to the northwest.
看他的样子，他是不是失恋啊？ from the way he looks, do you think he's been disappointed in love?

Me:
别看朝我，我也不知道答案。
我很担心他的样子，看起来非常累。

Comments

[grayswandir]

Hah, I saw your comment before actually reading the post and had a brief moment of being like "but that's a pretty common character" before I looked at the context and immediately agreed with you. I know 朝 as "morning" and "imperial court" but definitely not "towards"!

(I also have never gotten the hang of 往 because I learned it as meaning both "towards" and "past" which seem like opposites to me, and it's not used in Cantonese so I have no experience with hearing how it works in context. Except in song lyrics where it actually does often refer to the past. XD)

[grayswandir]

(...Come to think of it, I guess my confusion about 往 is just an extension of my confusion about 前 meaning what's spatially in front of you or temporally behind you, and 后 vice-versa... except 往 is where you're spatially headed or where you've temporally already been...)

[trobadora]

LOL! It's similar in English, though, isn't it? I mean, what's before you is in front of you, but what happened before is what's already behind you. :p

[grayswandir]

Yes, it's exactly the same. XD Obviously I don't have a problem with it in English (or even German, despite knowing barely any German... maybe because the line of descent from the German to English words/meanings is so obvious that I can just map them directly across??), but I recognize that it's equally baffling. XD

[trobadora]

It being the same in German, English and Chinese is why I can usually get it right in Chinese, but only if I don't think about it. *g*

[trobadora]

Yeah, I've come across the character but not consciously with this meaning!

I really only know 往 as "towards"; I didn't really remember the "past" meaning, tbh.

[grayswandir]

Yeah, I've come across the character but not consciously with this meaning!

...I just now opened up the first episode of a show I'm thinking about reviewing for Mandarin audio, and the first sentence that showed up at the random point I skipped to had this usage of 朝 in it. o_O "今天第一次是朝真人开枪吧。"

I really only know 往 as "towards"; I didn't really remember the "past" meaning, tbh.

I think it might only mean "past" in compounds? I run across it in song lyrics as e.g. 往昔, 往日, 往事. But I memorized the character as having both meanings, and I run across it pretty rarely in general, so every time I do see it I get confused about what it is.

[trobadora]

I think it might only mean "past" in compounds?

Oh, yeah, now that you say it I've definitely come across those words!

[nnozomi]

I think it might only mean "past" in compounds? I run across it in song lyrics as e.g. 往昔, 往日, 往事.
That's a useful point to remember!