Learn Hardcore Chinese: Wǒ de sùshè zài xiàoyuán lǐ, lí túshūguǎn bù yuǎn. - My dorm is inside the campus, not far from the library.

我的宿舍 = my dorm / my dorm room
我宿舍 is possible in casual spoken Chinese, but it sounds more colloquial and is less standard, especially for learners.

General rule of thumb for beginners:

Use 的 for possession: 我的书, 你的老师, 他的宿舍.
Sometimes 的 is dropped with very close relationships or set expressions (e.g. 我妈妈, 我家), but 我的宿舍 is the default, “safe” form.

What exactly is 在 doing in this sentence? Is it a verb like “to be” or a preposition like “at”?

In this kind of sentence, 在 functions like a locative verb meaning “to be located at/in/on”.

Pattern:

Subject + 在 + Place
- 我在学校。 = I am at school.
- 我的宿舍在校园里。 = My dorm is on campus.

Chinese often uses 在 instead of a verb “to be” for locations. So you don’t need a separate “is” — 在 already covers “is located at”.

Why do we have both 在 and 里 in 在校园里? Could I just say 在校园?

Both are possible, with a small nuance:

在校园里 → literally “to be inside the campus”
在校园 → “at/on campus”

里 emphasizes being inside the area, but in many everyday contexts, 在校园 and 在校园里 are interchangeable.

For learners, 在 + place + 里 is a very common and natural pattern when talking about being “in” a place:

在家里 – at home / in the house
在教室里 – in the classroom
在房间里 – in the room

So 在校园里 is a very natural way to say “on campus / in the campus.”

What’s the difference between 校园 and 学校?

Both relate to “school,” but they’re used slightly differently:

学校 – the institution “school” in general
- 我在这个学校上学。= I attend this school.
校园 – the campus or school grounds/area
- 这个校园很漂亮。= This campus is very beautiful.

In this sentence, 在校园里 focuses on the physical campus area where the dorm is located, which matches the idea of “on campus” rather than just “at the school (as an institution).”

What does 离 mean and how does this structure work?

离 is used to talk about distance between two places. A very common pattern is:

Place A + 离 + Place B + (adjective about distance)

Examples:

我家离学校很近。 = My home is very close to the school.
图书馆离这儿不远。 = The library is not far from here.

In your sentence:

我的宿舍 (Place A)
离图书馆 (from the library, Place B)
不远 (not far)

So the structure A 离 B 不远 literally means:
“A, away from B, is not far.” → “A is not far from B.”

Why is it 不远 instead of using 近 (“near”)? What is the difference between 不远 and 很近?

不远 = “not far”
- This is a mildly positive way to say the distance is acceptable / fairly close.
很近 = “very close”
- This sounds stronger, emphasizing that the two places are really near each other.

Nuance:

离图书馆不远 = It’s not far from the library. (sounds neutral–mildly positive)
离图书馆很近 = It’s very close to the library. (stronger emphasis on closeness)

In conversation, 不远 is often chosen when you want to say it’s reasonably close without over-stating it.

Why is there no 是 (“to be”) in this sentence? Why not 我的宿舍是在校园里?

For location sentences, standard Chinese usually uses:

Subject + 在 + Place
- 我的宿舍在校园里。

You don’t normally put 是 directly before 在 in a simple location sentence. Adding 是 can sound:

either unnecessary or
like you’re emphasizing a contrast (e.g. “My dorm IS on campus (not off campus)”).

So the most natural basic form is:

我的宿舍在校园里。 (no 是)

Could I change the order and say 我的宿舍离图书馆不远，在校园里。?

Yes, that word order is also grammatical and natural:

我的宿舍在校园里，离图书馆不远。
我的宿舍离图书馆不远，在校园里。

Both mean the same thing.

Difference in feel:

First version starts by telling you where it is (on campus).
Second version starts by telling you how far it is from the library (not far).

Chinese allows some flexibility in ordering descriptive phrases like this, as long as the sentence remains clear.

Can I say 离图书馆很近 instead of 离图书馆不远?

Yes:

我的宿舍在校园里，离图书馆很近。
= My dorm is on campus and (is) very close to the library.

Both are correct:

不远 – “not far” (a bit softer, more neutral)
很近 – “very close” (more clearly positive and stronger)

Which you choose depends on how close it actually is and how strongly you want to emphasize that closeness.

Why does 不 go before 远? What is the structure 不 + adjective here?

In Chinese, to negate an adjective, you usually put 不 before the adjective:

不远 – not far
不大 – not big
不高 – not tall / not high

So 远 = “far”, and 不远 = “not far”.

In the 离 pattern, the distance word or phrase (like 远, 近, 不远, 很近) comes after the two places:

A 离 B 远 – A is far from B.
A 离 B 近 – A is near B.
A 离 B 不远 – A is not far from B.
A 离 B 很近 – A is very close to B.

Does 宿舍 refer to the entire dorm building or to a single room?

宿舍 can mean either, depending on context:

Dorm building / dormitory in general:
- 学校有三个宿舍。= The school has three dorms.
Dorm room (student’s own room):
- 我的宿舍在三楼。= My dorm room is on the third floor.

In a sentence like 我的宿舍在校园里，离图书馆不远, it’s usually understood as “my dorm room / my dorm” – where you live, not just the building abstractly.

Could I say 在校园里面 or 在校园中 instead of 在校园里? Are they different?

Yes, you can, with small differences in style:

在校园里 – most common, everyday, natural.
在校园里面 – adds 面, slightly more explicit “inside,” often a bit more spoken/informal.
在校园中 – more formal / written, a bit literary.

All three basically mean “on/in the campus.” For everyday speech, 在校园里 is the best default.