To mark the location of the subject in ‘在 + location + verb’ structure.
张:他爸爸妈妈在哪里工作?
Zhāng :Tā bà bà mā mā zài nǎ lǐ gōng zuò ?
Zhang: Where do his parents work?
王:他爸爸在银行工作;他妈妈没有工作,她在家看孩子。
Wáng :Tā bà bà zài yín háng gōng zuò ;tā mā mā méi yǒu gōng zuò ,tā zài jiā kàn hái zǐ 。
Wang: His father works at a bank; his mother does not have a job; she cares for the
children at home.
李:王先生的孩子都在外国留学吗?
Lǐ :Wáng xiān shēng de hái zǐ dōu zài wài guó liú xué ma ?
Li: Are both Mr Wang’s children studying in foreign countries?
丁:对,他儿子现在在中国学中文;女儿在法国学设计。
Dīng :Duì ,tā ér zǐ xiàn zài zài zhōng guó xué zhōng wén ;nǚ ér zài fǎ guó xué shè jì 。
Ding: That’s right. His son is studying Chinese in China right now; his daughter is
studying design in France.
[1] Yip, P. C., Rimmington, D., Xiaoming, Z., & Henson, R. (2009). Basic Chinese: a grammar and workbook. Taylor & Francis.