Being somewhere with 在

Structure Subject + 在 + place

As a verb, 在 (zài) means "to be (located) at" a place: Subject + 在 + place. Nothing else is needed (do not add 是). Negate it with 不在. (Careful: 在 can also go BEFORE a verb to mark an action in progress —"to be doing"—; that is a separate point, later on.)

Examples

我wǒ在zài家jiā。
I’m at home.
老lǎo师shī在zài学xué校xiào。
The teacher is at school.
你nǐ在zài哪nǎ里lǐ？
Where are you?
书shū在zài桌zhuō子zi上shàng。
The book is on the table.

Levels are indicative: they follow the standard Chinese Grammar Wiki (AllSet Learning) progression, not an official HSK 3.0 mapping. We never assign levels by eye.

This point and the other 370, with audio on every example, inside Wanyu.