往 (wǎng) is the direction-of-travel word: it tells you which way a movement is headed, the way a compass needle or a road sign does. As a coverb it sits in front of a motion verb — 往前走 "walk forward," 往左拐 "turn left" — and its object is usually a bare direction (前/后/左/右/东/西/上/下) rather than a full noun. The key contrast for English speakers: 往 gives a heading, not a destination. It's "headed that way," and it makes no claim that you arrive — that claim belongs to 到. This is why 往 is the workhorse of street directions, where the point is the way, not the endpoint.
往 + direction + verb
The frame is 往 + direction + motion verb. The verb is almost always one of a small set: 走 (walk/go), 拐 (turn), 开 (drive), 跑 (run), 看 (look), 流 (flow).
往前走，到红绿灯往右拐。
wǎng qián zǒu, dào hónglǜdēng wǎng yòu guǎi
Go straight ahead, and turn right at the traffic light. (informal) — classic street directions.
别往后看，专心开车。
bié wǎng hòu kàn, zhuānxīn kāi chē
Don't look back — focus on driving. (informal)
往北开五公里就到了。
wǎng běi kāi wǔ gōnglǐ jiù dào le
Drive north five kilometres and you're there. (informal) — 往 sets the heading, 到了 marks the arrival.
请大家往里走，后面还有空位。
qǐng dàjiā wǎng lǐ zǒu, hòumian hái yǒu kòngwèi
Everyone please move to the back — there are still empty seats. (neutral, e.g. on a bus)
Bare direction words
Unlike most coverbs, 往 loves a bare direction word with no noun at all — 往前, 往上, 往东 are complete phrases. This makes sense from its history: 往 was once a full verb meaning "to go / to head somewhere," so it still behaves as if the direction is the goal, needing no separate noun. English can't do this — "toward" demands an object ("toward the front"), but 往前 stands alone. The bare directions fall into three natural sets:
| Set | Words | Example |
|---|---|---|
| relative | 前 / 后 / 左 / 右 | 往前走 (wǎng qián zǒu) — go forward |
| vertical | 上 / 下 | 往下看 (wǎng xià kàn) — look down |
| compass | 东 / 西 / 南 / 北 | 往东开 (wǎng dōng kāi) — drive east |
电梯往上还是往下？
diàntī wǎng shàng háishì wǎng xià?
Is the elevator going up or down? (informal)
一直往前，别停。
yìzhí wǎng qián, bié tíng
Keep straight ahead, don't stop. (informal)
这趟车往北京，你上错了。
zhè tàng chē wǎng Běijīng, nǐ shàng cuò le
This train goes toward Beijing — you got on the wrong one. (informal) — a place name as object, common on schedules.
河水往东流。
héshuǐ wǎng dōng liú
The river flows east. (neutral, slightly literary)
往 vs 到, and a word on 向 / 朝
Two boundaries to keep clear. First, 往 (heading) vs 到 (arrival): use 到 the moment you mean the endpoint is reached. Second, Mandarin has three "toward" coverbs — 往 stresses the direction of motion, 向 leans toward a target or figurative aim (and is used with people: 向他学习 "learn from him"), and 朝 stresses facing / orientation. They overlap but aren't freely swappable; the full sorting lives on the 往 / 向 / 朝 choosing page.
他向我们介绍了他的家人。
tā xiàng wǒmen jièshào le tā de jiārén
He introduced his family to us. (neutral) — a figurative aim toward people, so 向, not 往.
Common Mistakes
1. Using 往 for a destination you actually reach. 往 only points the way; arrival is 到.
❌ 我往学校了。
Incorrect — 往 can't assert arrival; reaching the place is 到学校了.
✅ 我到学校了。
wǒ dào xuéxiào le
I've arrived at school.
2. Putting the direction after the verb. 往 + direction leads; the verb follows.
❌ 走往前。
Incorrect — the direction phrase precedes the verb: 往前走.
✅ 往前走。
wǎng qián zǒu
Walk forward.
3. Using 往 for a figurative or facing "toward" (a person). Motion direction is 往; aiming at a person is 向 or 朝.
❌ 她往我笑了笑。
Incorrect — smiling toward a person is a facing/aim, so use 向 or 朝, not 往.
✅ 她向我笑了笑。
tā xiàng wǒ xiào le xiào
She smiled at me. (neutral)
4. Leaving 往 + direction without a motion verb. With a person as subject, 往 needs a following verb to complete the action.
❌ 我往公园。
Incorrect — needs a motion verb: 往公园走 'walk toward the park' (or simply 去公园).
✅ 我往公园走。
wǒ wǎng gōngyuán zǒu
I'm walking toward the park.
Key Takeaways
- 往 (wǎng) sets the direction of a movement — the heading, not the endpoint.
- The frame is 往 + direction + motion verb: 往前走, 往左拐, 往北开.
- It readily takes bare direction words — 前/后/左/右, 上/下, 东/西/南/北.
- Use 到, not 往, when the destination is actually reached.
- 往 is for motion direction; for a target/facing aim (especially toward people) reach for 向 or 朝 — sorted on the choosing page.
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- 到 (dào): To / Arriving AtHSK 1 — 到 (dào) marks a destination or endpoint 'to / until / up to' — as a coverb before a motion verb (到北京去 'go to Beijing') and as a resultative complement after one (走到门口 'walk to the doorway', 找到 'find').
- 从 (cóng): From (Starting Point)HSK 2 — 从 (cóng) marks a starting point in space or time — 从北京来 'come from Beijing', 从早到晚 'from morning to night', 从明天起 'starting tomorrow'. The 从-phrase precedes the verb; don't confuse it with 离 (static distance).
- What Is a Coverb? Prepositions That Are Really VerbsHSK 1 — What English calls prepositions, Chinese handles with coverbs (介词) — words that began as verbs, take an object, and form a phrase BEFORE the main verb: 在家吃饭 'eat at home', 给你打电话 'call you', 用筷子吃 'eat with chopsticks'. The frame is Subject + Coverb + Object + Main Verb.
- 往 vs 向 vs 朝: Which 'Toward'?HSK 3 — Three coverbs all translate as 'toward', and English hides the difference: 往 (wǎng) is physical movement toward a place, 朝 (cháo) is facing and orientation, 向 (xiàng) is an abstract aim or a person as target — often formal. This page sorts them, with the overlap zones.
- 在 (zài): At / In / OnHSK 1 — 在 (zài) is the core location coverb — 在 + place + verb marks where an action happens: 我在家吃饭 'I eat at home', 他在图书馆学习 'he studies in the library'. The place phrase comes before the verb.