I’m using the HelloChinese app to learn simplified Mandarin and I’m at the chapter where we are learning to say where things are located using 有, 在, and 是. They haven’t really explained to me the difference between any of them, but based on some of my answers I can see they’re not interchangeable. I understand 有 a bit more than the other since it’s similar to 有る in Japanese. Kinda frustrated that they didn’t give an explanation for this at all so far, it’s making this unnecessarily confusing and hard to learn.
是 = is
飯館右邊「是」咖啡廳。
To the right of the restaurant "is" the coffeeshop.
在 = is at
咖啡廳「在」飯館右邊。
The coffeeshop "is at" the right side of the restaurant.
Thank you for your reply! To clarify, I do understand what they all technically translate to, I think it’s just a bit confusing for me in this context to differentiate when I should use one or the other. I think it’ll be a bit easier after a lot of practice.
Yes it'll get easier as you go, keep at it! And what I wanted to highlight was how the word order determines which verb to use, which has parallels in English when you consider where in the sentence the subject/object is (hence the different translations for the above sentences). The other commenter already discussed this in detail so I won't repeat it.
You can use a simple scheme, as I was once taught. It's simple, because it relies on the order of words, and is easily translatable.
1) 桌子上有一本书 = (literally) The desk HAS a book = (normal English) There is a book on the table. Really simple to understand. As far as I know, 有 is actually much more common than 是, which is primarily used for immovable/permanent things like buildings or mountains or whatnot. Example is your sentence: 饭馆右边是咖啡厅 = (literally) [IN] the right side of the restaurant IS a coffee shop = (normal English) There is a coffee shop to the right of the restaurant.
2) 我在北京 = I AM LOCATED AT Beijing = I am in Beijing. 我的书在桌子上 = My book IS LOCATED AT a table = The book is on a table. 在 literally states WHERE something is taking place, so in different scenarios might be translated into different words, such as: at, located at, is at, in, etc. Example: 他在商店买了一本书 = He IN the store bought a book = He bought a book in the store.
Notice the difference in the topic (theme of the sentence). If we're using the 有/是 pattern, we are talking about a place, and what is there. If we're using the 在 pattern, we are talking about where something is. You can think about it in forms of questions:
我的书在哪儿？ 你的书在桌子上。= Where is my book? Your book is on the table. (You're asking about the location of the book, or WHERE it is)
桌子上有什么东西？桌子上有三本书。= What's on the table? There are three books on the table. (You're asking about what the table HAS on it/what IS on the table. In other words, WHAT is there).
Mind the locatives: Object + locative = location relative to the object. 饭馆右边 = Right side of the restaurant = To the right of the restaurant. 饭馆里（面） = Inner side of the restaurant = Inside the restaurant. All of which are legit places.
Thank you! I did start to catch onto the word order being different for 有/是 vs for 在. Def will note this going forward this was super helpful!
Superb explanation.
The restaurant is 是 at the / in the 在