When to use qù v. when to use zài

[BIW]

Hi,

I'm confused when to use qù v. when to use zài. Take these examples:

I'm going out to eat today -> jīntiān wǒ qù chīfàn

I'm going to eat there tomorrow -> míngtiān wǒ zài nàli chīfàn

I want to go eat there tomorrow -> míngtiān wǒ yào qù nàli chīfàn

Why does the second one use zài?

Thanks in advance!

[msittig]

The reason you are confused is probably because those are non-literal translations. Here's clearer, more literal translations:

Today I go (out) to eat. -> jīntiān wǒ qù chīfàn

Tomorrow I will eat at that place. -> míngtiān wǒ zài nàli chīfàn

Tomorrow I want to go to that place to eat. -> míngtiān wǒ yào qù nàli chīfàn

Also see:

http://resources.all...zai"_with_verbs

[Ruben von Zwack]

Hey BIW, zài basically means "at" so that's why you need it in your example.

Now "nàli" means "there". More literally "that place (over there)", as opposed to "zhèli" = "this place (here)". It's a compound of two elements:

Nà = "there" (opposed to zhè="here"), and li="in(side)".

So literally, your example 2, "míngtiān wǒ zài nàli chīfàn", means: "Tomorrow, I at (<-zài) that-place-over-there (<-nàli) eat". It does not contain a "going" at all! I guess the translator just used "going" to make the English sound more natural.

Now "qù" is a normal verb and means "go".

There shouldn't be any danger of confusing zài and nàli (words you use when talking about locations) on the one hand, and qù, "go, going, going to" on the other hand.

I guess your problem really just came from the translator adding a "going" to the translation when it's actually not in the Chinese example, just to make the English translation smoother.

[Shirley_Chen]

As a Chinese, I think it's perfectly fine to use qù in the second sentence. míngtiān wǒ zài nàli chīfàn = míngtiān wǒ qù nàli chīfàn