<p>Prepositions are funny things, they can swap their meanings around, depending on your point of view and your language. Thus 'to' can become 'from'.</p>
<p>望向窗外。<br />
look from/to window out<br />
Gaze out of the window.</p>
<p>向银行贷款<br />
get a loan from the bank<br />
从银行贷款<br />
get a loan from the bank</p>
<p>我向银行贷款买了一处房子。<br />
I borrowed money from the bank to buy a house.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-08-26T05:49:57.787Z
Hey, I definitely understand now, but I don't understand why this particular usage of 向 is not in any dictionary or grammar resource I can access online. I know you're correct (and I know the others are also correct in this usage of 向), but why do you think this usage of 向 isn't in any Chinese-learning resource online? After you guys told me it means 'from' (like "obtained from"), I realized I've seen this usage many times before. So you'd think this would be in some learning resource, but I cannot find one. Thoughts? And thanks for your answer!!! <3
Joseph King
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-08-25T23:53:21.593Z
2021-08-25T23:53:21.593Z
Pedroski
<p>I bought a house by obtaining a mortgage from the bank.</p>
<p>In this sentence, 向 = 從, means &quot;from&quot;.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-08-25T21:39:51.533Z
2021-08-25T21:39:51.533Z
r13
<p>'I bought a house on mortgage' is how I'd translate, but literally it would be 'I got a mortgage from a bank and bought a house'.</p>
<p>'向' could mean 'at', 'with' or 'from' depending on the context, here it means 'from'.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-08-25T16:12:42.417Z
2021-08-25T16:12:42.417Z
techolic
<p>According to dictionaries, 向:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>介词</p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p>引进动作的方向或对象</p>
</blockquote>
<p>It can introduce not only <em><strong>the direction</strong></em> but also <em><strong>the object of the verb</strong></em>.</p>
<p>E.g. 向他借钱 means <em><strong>you applies the action(借钱) upon the object 他</strong></em>.</p>
<p>Other examples: 向他打听/向他问路/etc.</p>
<p>This sense of 向 is more or less relevant to the sense &quot;towards&quot;. For interpretation, you may use &quot;to&quot; or &quot;from&quot; according to context.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-08-26T07:25:46.567Z
2021-08-26T07:25:46.567Z
dan
<p>向 in this context is a form of, (perhaps not exactly), an  auto-antonym which are words that are the opposite of themselves when used in different context.</p>
<p>(Note:- an antonym is a word that expresses a meaning opposed to the meaning of another word)</p>
<p>Examples of auto-antonyms are:-</p>
<p>&quot;left&quot;, (departed from), or (remaining);</p>
<p>&quot;put out&quot;, (to generate), or (to extinguish);</p>
<p>&quot;root&quot;, (to remove completely), or (to be firmly established)</p>
<p>So, 向 in general usage means &quot;towards&quot;, &quot;to face in the direction of&quot;</p>
<p>However, in the context of 我向银行..., it becomes &quot;from&quot;, thereby becoming an auto-antonym of &quot;towards&quot;</p>
<p>So, how did 向 go from &quot;towards&quot; to &quot;from&quot; in this context?</p>
<p>When you want something &quot;from&quot; someone, whether for a favor or to challenge that person, you would &quot;face towards the direction&quot; of that person, (and not to give a view of your backside) However, you are actually trying to get something &quot;from&quot; and not moving &quot;towards&quot; that person.</p>
<p>Therefore, when you 向银行贷款, you are &quot;facing towards&quot; or rather &quot;approaching towards&quot; the bank with the intention of obtaining a loan &quot;from&quot; the bank.</p>
<p>Finally, for completeness sack, &quot;to challenge someone to a duel&quot; is -- 我向你挑战决斗, (which of course also fits in nicely with the sagely advice, &quot;never turn your back on your enemy&quot;) Here, what you want is to get either a cowardly refusal or a brave affirmative to your challenge &quot;from&quot; the enemy.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-08-28T04:21:05.947Z
2021-08-28T06:19:58.470Z
2021-08-28T06:19:58.470Z
Wayne Cheah
<p>我向银行贷款买了一处房子. What is the correct translation of this sentence? And also, what's the usage of 向 in the sentence?</p>
<p>Thanks a lot for all the help!!</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-08-28T06:10:40.607Z
Just wonder since when the unit of house became 處.
joehua
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-08-29T10:57:03.577Z
Joe, in quotes, I just googled "一处房子" and it returned 750K+ results. It was also my first time seeing 处 used for a house. I've seen it used for things like ancient ruins, right?
Joseph King
<translation><ambiguity>
我向银行贷款买了一处房子. What is the correct translation of this sentence? And also, what's the usage of 向 in the sentence?
# 我向银行贷款买了一处房子. What is the correct translation of this sentence? And also, what's the usage of 向 in the sentence?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-08-25)

我向银行贷款买了一处房子. What is the correct translation of this sentence? And also, what's the usage of 向 in the sentence?

Thanks a lot for all the help!!

**Tags:** translation, ambiguity

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Just wonder since when the unit of house became 處.  
> **username_0**: Joe, in quotes, I just googled "一处房子" and it returned 750K+ results. It was also my first time seeing 处 used for a house. I've seen it used for things like ancient ruins, right?  

---

## 5 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2021-08-25. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

Prepositions are funny things, they can swap their meanings around, depending on your point of view and your language. Thus 'to' can become 'from'.

望向窗外。  
look from/to window out  
Gaze out of the window.

向银行贷款  
get a loan from the bank  
从银行贷款  
get a loan from the bank

我向银行贷款买了一处房子。  
I borrowed money from the bank to buy a house.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Hey, I definitely understand now, but I don't understand why this particular usage of 向 is not in any dictionary or grammar resource I can access online. I know you're correct (and I know the others are also correct in this usage of 向), but why do you think this usage of 向 isn't in any Chinese-learning resource online? After you guys told me it means 'from' (like "obtained from"), I realized I've seen this usage many times before. So you'd think this would be in some learning resource, but I cannot find one. Thoughts? And thanks for your answer!!! <3  

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### Answer by username_3 on 2021-08-25. Score: 3

I bought a house by obtaining a mortgage from the bank.

In this sentence, 向 = 從, means "from".


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### Answer by username_4 on 2021-08-25. Score: 2

'I bought a house on mortgage' is how I'd translate, but literally it would be 'I got a mortgage from a bank and bought a house'.

'向' could mean 'at', 'with' or 'from' depending on the context, here it means 'from'.


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### Answer by username_5 on 2021-08-26. Score: 2

According to dictionaries, 向:

> 介词

> 引进动作的方向或对象

It can introduce not only ***the direction*** but also ***the object of the verb***.

E.g. 向他借钱 means ***you applies the action(借钱) upon the object 他***.

Other examples: 向他打听/向他问路/etc.

This sense of 向 is more or less relevant to the sense "towards". For interpretation, you may use "to" or "from" according to context.


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### Answer by username_6 on 2021-08-28. Score: 1

向 in this context is a form of, (perhaps not exactly), an auto-antonym which are words that are the opposite of themselves when used in different context.

(Note:- an antonym is a word that expresses a meaning opposed to the meaning of another word)

Examples of auto-antonyms are:-

"left", (departed from), or (remaining);

"put out", (to generate), or (to extinguish);

"root", (to remove completely), or (to be firmly established)

So, 向 in general usage means "towards", "to face in the direction of"

However, in the context of 我向银行..., it becomes "from", thereby becoming an auto-antonym of "towards"

So, how did 向 go from "towards" to "from" in this context?

When you want something "from" someone, whether for a favor or to challenge that person, you would "face towards the direction" of that person, (and not to give a view of your backside) However, you are actually trying to get something "from" and not moving "towards" that person.

Therefore, when you 向银行贷款, you are "facing towards" or rather "approaching towards" the bank with the intention of obtaining a loan "from" the bank.

Finally, for completeness sack, "to challenge someone to a duel" is -- 我向你挑战决斗, (which of course also fits in nicely with the sagely advice, "never turn your back on your enemy") Here, what you want is to get either a cowardly refusal or a brave affirmative to your challenge "from" the enemy.


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