Grammar · 语法 yǔfǎ

往

wǎng

The word that points a journey. 往 marks the direction a motion heads, the coverb behind every street direction: forward, left, north. Beneath it lies an older verb, "to go", which also reaches back in time to mean "past, bygone".

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字源 zìyuán Etymology & Structure

字源洞见 zìyuán dòngjiàn · Etymological Insight

往 wǎng carries the radical 彳 chì, the "step" radical that marks words of movement along a road (the same element in 行 xíng, 街 jiē, 很). Its core meaning has always been "to go, to proceed toward". The right side gives the sound. The picture is plain: a foot setting out down a path.

From the verb "to go" two branches grow. One reaches into space and becomes the coverb "toward", marking the direction of a motion, 往前 ("forward"), 往北 ("northward"). The other reaches into time: what has "gone" is past, so 往 also means "bygone", as in 往事 (past events) and 往年 (former years). The same step that carries you forward in space carries the moment backward into memory.

往 wǎng Toward, To Go, Bygone

往 (coverb) wǎng toward; in the direction of

介词 jiècí

The everyday use: 往 marks the direction a movement heads, and is followed by a direction word and then a motion verb. 往前走 ("go forward"), 往里走 ("go inward"), 往车站 ("toward the station"). This is the coverb you use to give and receive directions. The 往 phrase always precedes the main verb.

一直往前走，就到了。

Yìzhí wǎng qián zǒu, jiù dào le.

Keep going straight ahead and you'll be there.

这趟车是开往上海的。

Zhè tàng chē shì kāi wǎng Shànghǎi de.

This train is bound for Shanghai.

往 (verb) wǎng to go; to proceed

动词 dòngcí

The older full-verb sense, "to go, to head somewhere", now mostly literary or fixed. It survives in 来往 láiwǎng ("comings and goings, dealings"), 交往 jiāowǎng ("to associate with"), and the sweeping 古往今来 ("from ancient times to the present"). In modern speech the coverb use is far more common than this bare verb.

他们俩来往很密切。

Tāmen liǎ láiwǎng hěn mìqiè.

The two of them are in close contact.

往 (past) wǎng past; former; bygone

形容词 xíngróngcí

As "what has gone", 往 means "past, former". 往年 ("former years, in years past"), 往事 ("past events, old times"), 以往 ("formerly, in the past"), 往日 ("bygone days"). The sense colors memory: 往事如烟 ("the past is like drifting smoke"). This is space turned into time, the gone-by rather than the gone-toward.

今年的雪比往年大。

Jīnnián de xuě bǐ wǎngnián dà.

This year's snow is heavier than in past years.

用法 yòngfǎ Patterns — Giving Directions

往 in use · the core patterns 往 + Direction + 走 , 往前走 · walk forward
往 + 左 / 右 + 拐 / 转 , 往左拐 · turn left
往 + 上 / 下 / 里 / 外 , 往里走 · move inward
开往 / 飞往 / 通往 + Place , 开往北京 · bound for Beijing
往 + 年 / 事 / 日 , 往年 · in years past (the "bygone" 往)

往 + 方向 + 走 / 拐 wǎng + dir + zǒu / guǎi go / turn in a direction

The direction-giving frame. Slot a direction word between 往 and the motion verb: 往前走 ("go straight"), 往后退 ("back up"), 往左拐 / 往右拐 ("turn left / right"), 往上爬 ("climb up"). For street directions this is the workhorse pattern, and it is worth memorizing as a unit alongside the basic direction words.

到红绿灯往右拐就是了。

Dào hónglǜdēng wǎng yòu guǎi jiù shì le.

Turn right at the traffic light and that's it.

开往 / 通往 + 地点 kāi wǎng / tōng wǎng + place bound for / leading to

往 attaches after certain motion verbs to mark a destination: 开往 ("driving toward, bound for") for trains and buses, 飞往 ("flying to") for planes, 通往 ("leading to") for roads and paths. 通往成功的道路 ("the road leading to success") shows the frame stretching into metaphor.

这条路通往山顶。

Zhè tiáo lù tōng wǎng shāndǐng.

This road leads to the mountaintop.

辨析 biànxī 往 · 向 · 朝

辨析 biànxī · Distinguishing the Words

Three coverbs cover "toward", and they split by whether motion, facing, or abstraction is in play. 往 wǎng is the coverb of travel: it almost always precedes a motion verb and marks the direction you go, 往前走 ("walk forward"), 往南开 ("drive south"). 向 xiàng is the widest of the three: it handles motion (向前, "forward"), but also facing and, crucially, abstract orientation, directing an action at a target, 向他学习 ("learn from him"), 向大家道歉 ("apologize to everyone"). For learning from, addressing, or aiming at someone, only 向 works; 往 cannot do it.

朝 cháo leans on orientation, the way a thing is turned, and can describe facing without any travel: 朝南 ("facing south"), 窗户朝海 ("the window faces the sea"), 朝我笑 ("smile in my direction"). With a motion verb 朝 and 往 often overlap (朝前走 ≈ 往前走), but only 往 takes a destination after the verb (开往北京, "bound for Beijing"), and only 朝/向 comfortably mark a static facing. A rough rule: use 往 for going somewhere, 向 for aiming at something (including people and abstractions), 朝 for facing a direction.

成语 chéngyǔ Set Phrases

古往今来 gǔ wǎng jīn lái throughout the ages; from past to present Literally "the ancient goes, the present comes", spanning all of history from then until now. Here 往 keeps its full-verb sense "to go / pass", paired with 来 ("come") to sweep across time. The frame for any claim that holds across all eras.

一往无前 yì wǎng wú qián to press forward without turning back Literally "going straight on, nothing ahead can stop it", an image of fearless forward drive. The 往 here is pure forward motion, the direction-of-travel sense, intensified into dauntless momentum. Said of armies, reformers, and anyone who advances undeterred.

往事如烟 wǎng shì rú yān the past is like drifting smoke Literally "bygone matters are like smoke", the past fading and dispersing beyond grasp. Here 往 takes its time sense, 往事 ("past events"), and the phrase carries a gentle melancholy about how what is gone slips away. The mirror of 往 reaching backward rather than ahead.