n.
doorway; entrance; gate
门口
doorway; entrance; gate
Doorway, entrance, or gate opening (门 door + 口 mouth/opening); common meeting landmark: 在门口等 (wait at the door).
Common Usage & Traps
- 在门口 — at the doorway/entrance
- 学校门口 — school gate
- 在门口等 — wait at the entrance
- 门口有人 — someone is at the door
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门口里门口 / 门里门口 is an opening or boundary, not a container. Adding 里 sounds wrong for the doorway spot. If you mean inside, use 门里.
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去门口去开门 / 去门口看看When answering a knock, English says go to the door, but Chinese usually names the action: 去开门. 去门口 alone needs a purpose like 接人 or 看看.
What's the difference between 门 and 门口?
门 is the physical door; 门口 is the entrance area around it.
Use 门 for the object you open, lock, paint, or repair. Use 门口 for the spot where people stand, wait, meet, or drop off things. If you say 门口坏了, it sounds like the entrance area is broken, not the door itself. If you say 我在门等你, it sounds like you are waiting at the physical slab of wood.
| Dimension | Natural | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Physical object | 门坏了。 | 门口坏了。 |
| Waiting spot | 我在门口等你。 | 我在门等你。 |
| Meeting point | 学校门口见。 | 学校门见。 |
Can you say 门口里?
No. 门口 is an opening, not a container, so 里 sounds wrong.
Chinese uses 里 for inside a box, room, bag, or building. 门口 is the boundary area, so it does not take 里. Say 门口有人 if someone is at the entrance. If you mean inside the door, say 门里 or 门里面.
| Dimension | Natural | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| At the entrance | 门口有人。 | 门口里有人。 |
| Inside the door | 门里有人。 | 门口里有人。 |
| Wait at entrance | 我在门口等你。 | 我在门口里等你。 |
Why is it 我坐在门口 and not 我在门口坐?
在 after 坐 pins your body to the spot; 我在门口坐 sounds like a generic plan.
Chinese often puts 在 after verbs like 坐, 站, 躺 to show where the action lands. 我坐在门口 paints a clear scene of sitting at the doorway. 我在门口坐 is not always wrong, but it sounds less natural for describing a scene. To keep 在 before the place, you usually need 着: 我在门口坐着看雨.
“我坐在门口，看雨。” (I sit at the doorway, watching the rain.)
“我坐在门口，看雨。” (I sit at the doorway, watching the rain.)
| Dimension | Natural | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Describing a scene | 我坐在门口，看雨。 | 我在门口坐，看雨。 |
| Adding another action | 我坐在门口看雨。 | 我在门口坐看雨。 |
Appears in Stories 2 stories
Real context sentences across different daily scenarios and graded readings.
Why would a millionaire leave a table of lobster and wagyu untouched? This story explores the hidden rules of business dining and the true cost of staying alert.
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车停在我小区 门口 。
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我站在小区 门口 。
Before you read, close your eyes and imagine a rainy afternoon. This story uses simple HSK 1 words to show how rain can become a talking friend.
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我坐在 门口 ，看雨。
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