The prepositions 沿着 and 顺着
The prepositions 沿着 and 顺着 have the same meaning: "along".
The preposition 沿着
The preposition 沿着 
is used to indicate the direction in which an action takes place or the route somebody or something moves along.
沿着 is most commonly used in written language.
is used to indicate the direction in which an action takes place or the route somebody or something moves along.
沿着 is most commonly used in written language.
Pay attention
沿着 can be shortened to 沿.
Scheme
沿(着)
direction
Examples
他喜欢沿着湖散步
He likes to walk along the lake
tā xǐhuan yánzhe hú sànbù
沿这条路走，一会儿就到了
Follow this road and you'll be there in a few minutes
yán zhe tiáo lù zǒu, yíhuǐr jiù dào le
我沿着他指的路，很快找到了他家
I followed the way he showed me and soon found his house
wǒ yánzhe tā zhǐ de lù, hěn kuài zhǎodào le tā jiā
沿 can also be used as a noun "border" and "edge". For example:
Examples
河沿
riverside
hé yán
床沿
bedside
chuáng yán
前沿
front-line, a forward position
qián yán
The preposition 顺着
The preposition 顺着 is also used to indicate the direction in which an action takes place.
顺着 is most commonly used in spoken language.
is also used to indicate the direction in which an action takes place.
顺着 is most commonly used in spoken language. Pay attention
顺着 can be shortened to 顺.
Examples
雨水顺着我的头发滴了下来
The rain dripped down my hair
yǔshuǐ shùnzhe wǒ de tóufǎ dī le xiàlái
我们就顺着这条路走，走到哪儿算哪儿
We'll just follow this way, no matter where it leads
wǒmen jiù shùnzhe zhè tiáo lù zǒu, zǒu dào nǎr suàn nǎr
顺大道走
Let’s go down the avenue
shùn dà dào zǒu