Learn Hardcore Chinese: túshūguǎn běi bian yǒu yí gè xiǎo gōngyuán, nán bian shì yínháng. - There is a small park to the north of the library, and to the south is a bank.

The focus is that there exists a small park on the north side of the library.
Structure: Place + 有 + Something = There is something at that place.

In 南边是银行:

The focus is what the south side is / is occupied by: it is a bank.
Structure: Place + 是 + Noun = The place is (a) X.

You could also say:

图书馆南边有一家银行。 (There is a bank on the south side of the library.) or
北边是一个小公园。 (The north side is a small park.)

The choice of 有 vs 是 depends on whether you’re talking about existence (有) or identifying what the place is (是), not on north vs south specifically.

Why is it 图书馆北边 and not 在图书馆北边?

Both are possible, but the pattern in the sentence is a very common structure:

Place + Direction word + 有 / 是 + …

So:

图书馆北边有一个小公园 is short for
在图书馆北边，有一个小公园。

Using 在 is fine and grammatical, but often dropped in everyday speech in this pattern when the location comes directly before 有 or 是.

If you put the subject first (park/bank first), then you normally must use 在:

一个小公园在图书馆北边。
银行在图书馆南边。

So:

[Place + 有/是 + Thing] → usually no 在.
[Thing + 在 + Place] → needs 在.

Why is there no 的 in 图书馆北边? Why not 图书馆的北边?

Both 图书馆北边 and 图书馆的北边 are acceptable.

图书馆北边 (without 的) is more concise and more common in this fixed pattern:
- Place + Direction word (+ 有/是)
- e.g. 学校旁边, 商店后边, 家门口
图书馆的北边 feels a bit more explicit or slightly more formal, and would be perfectly fine if you said:
- 在图书馆的北边，有一个小公园。

In many location + direction combinations, 的 is often dropped in natural spoken Chinese when the relationship is clear and tight, like:

学校门口 (instead of 学校的门口)
家里, 楼上, etc.

So 图书馆北边 is just the more streamlined, everyday version.

What exactly does 北边 mean? Is it different from 北方 or 北面?

北边 (běibiān) literally means the north side (of some reference point).

Rough distinctions:

北边 / 北面
- Very similar; both mean north side / to the north of.
- 面 and 边 are often interchangeable in many contexts:
  - 图书馆北边 ≈ 图书馆北面
- 边 sounds a bit more colloquial in some regions; 面 can feel a bit more formal, but in everyday speech they often overlap.
北方
- Means the north (as a general region), not relative to a single building:
  - 中国北方 = northern China
  - Not natural to say 图书馆北方有一个小公园 for north side of the library; you use 北边 / 北面 for that.

So in this sentence, 北边 is “on the north side (of the library)”, not “northern region.”

Is 边 here pronounced with a tone (biān) or in a neutral way (bian)?

In 北边, 边 is normally pronounced with the first tone: biān.

However, in fast or casual speech, direction words like 这边, 那边, 北边, 里边 can sometimes sound a bit lighter, almost like a neutral tone, but it is taught and written as first tone:

北边: běi biān
南边: nán biān

For learners, treat 边 here as biān (first tone).

Why is 一 in 一个小公园 pronounced yí and not yī?

This is a standard tone change rule (tone sandhi) for 一 (yī):

一 changes to second tone (yí) before a fourth-tone syllable.

In 一个 (yí gè):

个 (gè) is fourth tone → 一 changes to yí
So you say: yí gè, not yī gè.

Other examples:

一杯 (yì bēi) (before first tone → third tone yì)
一条 (yì tiáo) (before second tone → third tone yì)
一个 (yí gè) (before fourth tone → second tone yí)

So the pinyin is yí gè for 一个 in this sentence.

Why is the measure word 个 used for 小公园? Are there more specific measure words?

个 (gè) is the default, most general measure word in Chinese and can be used for many things, including 公园 (parks), especially in everyday conversation:

一个小公园 = a small park

There are indeed more specific measure words that some speakers might prefer in careful or written language:

一座公园 – using 座 for larger, fixed structures/places
一处公园 – 处 for places/spots

But 一个公园 / 一个小公园 is completely natural and very common in everyday speech. For learners, 个 is a safe and widely accepted choice here.

Why is it 小公园 and not 小的公园?

In Chinese, adjectives normally go directly before the noun without 的 when:

They are simple, single-syllable adjectives
The relationship is clear and descriptive, not possessive

So:

小公园 = small park (very natural)
小房子, 大城市, 新手机, etc.

You use 的 when:

The adjective phrase is long/complex, or
You want to emphasize the quality, or
The relationship is less tight/obvious.

Examples:

很小的公园 – a very small park
不太大的城市 – a not-very-big city

So 小公园 is the normal, simple form. 小的公园 is not wrong, but sounds less natural unless you are contrasting or emphasizing.

Why do adjectives like 小 come before the noun 公园, instead of after it like in English?

Chinese noun phrases generally follow this order:

[Modifiers] + [Measure word] + [Noun]

Simple adjectives behave like modifiers and come before the noun:

一个小公园 = a small park
三本新书 = three new books
漂亮的衣服 = beautiful clothes

There is no pattern like English where you say park small; adjectives do not normally come after the noun in standard Chinese. So 小公园 is the normal order.

In the second part, why is it just 南边是银行 and not 图书馆南边是银行?

Chinese often uses a topic-comment structure. Once the topic is clear, it doesn’t have to be repeated.

The full idea is:

图书馆北边有一个小公园，(图书馆)南边是银行。

After the first clause, 图书馆 is already the shared reference point. So in the second clause, you can simply say 南边 and listeners will understand it means the south side of the library.

Repeating 图书馆:

图书馆南边是银行 is also correct, just slightly more explicit and a bit heavier stylistically.

Is the comma ， in the sentence the same as “and” in English?

In this sentence,

图书馆北边有一个小公园，南边是银行。

the comma is doing something like:

On the north side of the library, there is a small park, and on the south side, there is a bank.

So functionally, yes, it’s linking two related clauses, similar to “, and …” in English.

Chinese uses ， more freely than English commas:

To connect clauses
To separate parts in a list
To switch from one aspect of the same topic to another (as here: north side vs south side)

There’s no actual Chinese word equivalent to “and” here; the relationship is simply shown by juxtaposition and the comma.

Could we rephrase this using 在 and still be correct? For example: 在图书馆北边有一个小公园，在南边有银行。

Yes, those are grammatically correct, but some small naturalness tweaks:

在图书馆北边有一个小公园，在南边有一家银行。
This is fine, but a bit repetitive.

More natural options:

在图书馆北边有一个小公园，南边有一家银行。
(Use 在 only in the first clause.)
Or switch to the “Thing + 在 + Place” pattern:
- 一个小公园在图书馆北边，银行在南边。

The original:

图书馆北边有一个小公园，南边是银行。
is very smooth and idiomatic because it uses the common pattern:
[Place + Direction + 有/是 + Noun], [Direction + 有/是 + Noun].