37.3 The Preposition 向 hoeng3 (‘toward’)

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The preposition 向 hoeng3 means ‘toward’. We use 向 hoeng3 to indicate the direction or the place we move toward. We put a direction or a place after 向 hoeng3 to form a prepositional phrase.

Prepositional Phrase
Preposition	Noun
向 hoeng3 ‘toward’	Direction / Place
向	前邊	toward the front
hoeng3	cin4 bin6
toward	front
向	旺角	toward Mong Kok
hoeng3	wong6 gok3
toward	Mong Kok

We put the prepositional phrase before the verb we want to modify.

Subject	向 hoeng3 ‘toward’	Direction / Place	Verb
我哋	向	前邊	行	。
ngo5 dei6	hoeng3	cin4 bin6	haang4	.
we	toward	front	walk
We walk toward the front.
我哋	向	旺角	行	。
ngo5 dei6	hoeng3	wong6 gok3	haang4	.
we	toward	Mong Kok	walk
We walk toward Mong Kok [a district in Hong Kong].

If the location expression after 向 hoeng3 ends with 邊 bin6 / bin1 or 面 min6 (e.g., 前邊 cin4 bin6 ‘front’, 東邊 dung1 bin6 ‘east’), we can optionally omit 邊 bin6 / bin1 or 面 min6 in it.

Subject	向 hoeng3 ‘toward’	Direction / Place	Verb
我哋	向	前邊	行	。
ngo5 dei6	hoeng3	cin4 ~~bin6~~	haang4	.
we	toward	front	walk
We walk toward the front.
我哋	向	東邊	行	。
ngo5 dei6	hoeng3	dung1 ~~bin6~~	haang4	.
we	toward	east	walk
We walk toward the east.

However, we don’t omit 邊 bin6 / bin1 or 面 min6 in these location expressions:

1.	左手邊	zo2 sau2 bin6 / zo2 sau2 bin1	lefthand side
1.	左手面	zo2 sau2 min6	lefthand side
2.	右手邊	jau6 sau2 bin6 / jau6 sau2 bin1	righthand side
2.	右手面	jau6 sau2 min6	righthand side
3.	裏邊	leoi5 bin6 / leoi5 bin1	in, inside
3.	裏面	leoi5 min6	in, inside
4.	對面	deoi3 min6	opposite
5.	斜對面	ce4 deoi3 min6	diagonally opposite