Exprensando distancia

 Hola

 

我家离学校很远

我家离公司非常近

书店离学校有点远

火车站离飞机场不远

我家离公司不太远

地铁站离这里非常远

这家酒店离海滩太远了

这里离车站很近

那家超市离我家很近 

机场离这里多远？ 

地铁站离这里多远？

这家酒店离海滩多远？

这家酒店离海滩有多远？

“有多远 (yǒu duō yuǎn)” indicates that the speaker presumes that the hotel is far away from the beach.

这家酒店离医院很近很方便

他住的地方离这儿不远

搬家后离学校就远了

Distancias específicas

离火车站足有10里地。

An optional “远” can be added at the end of the sentence to make clear that you are talking about the distance in space (it kind of works like “in length” in English, and has no implication whatsoever that the place is far).

    火车站离飞机场十英里(远)。
    Huǒchē zhàn lí fēijī chǎng shí yīnglǐ (yuǎn).
    The train station is ten miles from the airport.

    北京离上海1088公里(远)。
    Běijīng lí shànghǎi 1088 gōnglǐ (yuǎn).
    Beijing is 1088 kilometers from Shanghai.
    Beijing ↔ Shanghai | 1088 kilometers (in length)

    地铁站离这里五百米(远)。
    Dìtiě zhàn lí zhèlI wǔ bǎi mǐ (yuǎn).
    The metro station is 500 meters from here.
    the metro station ↔ here | 500 meters (in length)

    这家酒店离海滩两百多米(远)。
    Zhè jiā jiǔdiàn lí hǎitān liǎng bǎi duō mǐ (yuǎn).
    This hotel is a bit more than 200 meters from the beach.
    this hotel ↔ the beach | 200+ meters (in length)

You can also use descriptions like “2 metro stops”, “5 minutes’ walk” to measure a distance (a number is usually required in these phrases). For example:

    火车站离飞机场开车二十分钟(远)。
    Huǒchē zhàn lí fēijī chǎng kāichē èr shí fēnzhōng (yuǎn).
    The train station is twenty minutes’ drive from the airport.
    the train station ↔ the airport | by car twenty minutes (in length)

    北京离上海坐飞机两小时(远)。
    Běijīng lí shànghǎi zuò fēijī liǎng xiǎoshí (yuǎn).
    Beijing is two hours away from Shanghai by plane.
    Beijing ↔ Shanghai | by plane two hours (in length)

    我家离公司两站地铁(远)。
    Wǒ jiā lí gōngsī liǎng zhàn dìtiě (yuǎn).
    My home is two metro stops away from the office.
    the metro station ↔ here | two metro stops (in length)

    这家酒店离海滩走路五分钟(远)。

Note that native speakers often use words built on the character 有 yǒu (e.g. 只有 zhǐ yǒu, 还有 hái yǒu) before the number in the “distance” segment to emphasize that the distance is small or large. For instance,

    火车站离飞机场只有十英里(远)。
    Huǒchē zhàn lí fēijī chǎng zhǐ yǒu shí yīnglǐ (yuǎn).
    The train station is only ten miles from the airport.
    the train station ↔ the airport | only exists ten miles (in length)

    火车站离飞机场开车还有两小时(远)。
    Huǒchē zhàn lí fēijī chǎng kāichē hái yǒu èr shí fēnzhōng (yuǎn).
    The train station is still two hours’ drive from the airport.
    the train station ↔ the airport | by car still exists two hours. (in length)

It could just be a 有 (yǒu) as well (translated as “exists” or “there is”) added before the number. When native speakers include it in the sentence, they are usually implying that the place is far in their opinions.

这家酒店离海滩走路有五十分钟(远)。
Zhè jiā jiǔdiàn lí hǎitān zǒulù yǒu wǔ shí fēnzhōng (yuǎn).
This hotel is fifty minutes’ walk from the beach. (with implication: it’s far)
this hotel ↔ the beach | by walking exists fifty minutes (in length)

The 有 (yǒu) is totally optional. You don’t need to (and really shouldn’t) add it to the structure if the distance is obviously short.

这家酒店离海滩走路有五分钟(远)。
Zhè jiā jiǔdiàn lí hǎitān zǒulù yǒu wǔ fēnzhōng (yuǎn).
This hotel is five minutes’ walk from the beach.
this hotel ↔ the beach | by walking exists five minutes (in length)
(It’s grammatically correct, but sounds strange – unless we all agree that 5 minutes’ walk away is far)

Repetir el adjetivo

饭馆儿离这儿远不远？

你家离公司近不近？

Para tiempo

离暑假还有几天

 

离考大学还有一年有余

    圣诞离现在很近。
    Shèngdàn lí xiànzài hěn jìn.
    Christmas is quite close to now.
    Christmas ↔ now | quite close

    冬天离现在不远。
    Dōngtiān lí xiànzài bù yuǎn.
    Winter is not far from now.
    winter ↔ now | not far

    侏罗纪离我们的时代非常远。
    Zhūluójì lí wǒmen de shídài fēicháng yuǎn.
    The Jurassic is very far from our era. 

Al hablar, se suele omitir palabras como 现在 o 今天 al principio de la oración.

离圣诞还有五个月。

There’s still five months before Christmas.

离奥运会开幕只有一百天

There’s only one hundred days before the opening of the Olympics.

Note that words like 有 (yǒu), 只有 (zhǐ yǒu), 还有 (hái yǒu), etc are usually used before the number for emphasis when indicating duration.

    唐朝离现在有一千多年。
    Tángcháo lí xiànzài yǒu yì qiān duō nián.
    Tang Dynasty is more than one thousand years (ago) to now.
    Tang Dynasty ↔ now | exists more than one thousand years

    现在离圣诞还有五个月。
    Xiànzài lí shèngdàn hái yǒu wǔ gè yuè.
    Now is still five months (away) from Christmas.
    now ↔ Christmas | still exists five months

    今天离奥运会开幕只有一百天。
    Jīntiān lí àoyùnhuì kāimù zhǐ yǒu yì bǎi tiān.
    Today is only one hundred days (away) from the opening of the Olympics.
    today ↔ the opening of the Olympics | only exists one hundred days

    回到未来三部曲离现在已经有三十多年了。

Back to the Future trilogy is already more than thirty years (ago) to now.

Otras expresiones

中国离得很远

China is far away

 

离 (lí) does not just dwell in the realm of space and time. You can practically use the same pattern to express the distance between any two things. Some most obvious examples include

people

    凶手离我只有十米。
    Xiōngshǒu lí wǒ zhǐ yǒu shí mǐ.
    The murderer is only ten meters away from me.
    the murderer ↔ me | only exists ten meters

phenomena

    人工智能离我们的日常生活越来越近。
    Réngōng zhìnéng lí wǒmen de rìcháng shēnghuó yuèlaiyuè jìn.
    Artificial intelligence is (getting) closer and closer to our daily lives.
    artificial intelligence ↔ our daily lives | closer and closer

goals

    我的中文离完美还很远。
    Wǒ de zhōngwén lí wánměi hái hěn yuǎn.
    My Chinese is still far from being perfect.
    my Chinese ↔ perfection | still quite far

concepts

    成功离失败只有一步之遥。
    Chénggōng lí shībài zhǐ yǒu yíbùzhīyáo.
    Success is only one step’s distance away from failure.
    success ↔ failure | only exists one step’s distance
 

 

Formal Version of 离 (lí)

The above is more than enough to be able to understand how to express distance in Chinese. We even included some fairly difficult sentences for this level, just to keep you on your toes! If you’re still in the mood for enriching your vocabulary, though, you might be interested in this formal version of 离 (lí):
距离 (jùlí)

The word 距离 (jùlí) is in fact the complete form of 离 (lí). It works exactly the same, but just sounds more formal. You’ll often come across this word in TV news, newspapers, books…

Let’s replace 离 (lí) with 距离 (jùlí) in some of the examples.

    北京距离上海很远。
    Běijīng jùlí shànghǎi hěn yuǎn.
    Beijing is far from Shanghai.

    我家距离公司两站地铁(远)。
    Wǒ jiā jùlí gōngsī liǎng zhàn dìtiě (yuǎn).
    My home is two metro stops away from the office.

    唐朝距离现在有一千多年。
    Tángcháo jùlí xiànzài yǒu yì qiān duō nián.
    Tang Dynasty is more than one thousand years (ago) to now.

    距离奥运会开幕只有一百天。
    Jùlí àoyùnhuì kāimù zhǐ yǒu yì bǎi tiān.
    There’s only one hundred days before the opening of the Olympics.