坐 / 骑 / 开 / 走路【zuò / qí / kāi / zǒulù】

by bus, by train, by plane, take a taxi, ride a bike, drive, on foot, walk, transport, travel, zuo, qi, kai, zoulu

The verb for each way of travelling: for riding as a passenger, for what you sit astride, for what you drive, on foot. 。 is "I cycle to work".

HSK 2

AI-generated

Structure

[subject] + 坐 / 骑 / 开 + [vehicle] + 去 / 来 + [place]

[subject] + 走路 + 去 / 来 + [place]

Description

English "take" and "go by" cover every vehicle. Chinese picks the verb by how you are carried. 坐, "sit", is for anything you ride in as a passenger: bus, subway, train, plane, taxi, boat.

。

I take the subway to work.

。

They're flying to Shanghai.

骑 for what you sit astride

骑 is for anything you straddle: a bicycle, a motorbike, a horse.

。

Xiaoyu cycles to school.

× 我坐自行车 → 我骑自行车

开 for driving

开 means you are at the controls: 开车 is "drive". If someone else drives, you 坐车.

。

My dad drove me to the airport.

，。

I can't drive, so I'll take a taxi.

× 我开出租车去机场 → 我坐出租车去机场

The first one says you are the taxi driver.

走路 on foot

走路 goes in the same slot as the others: 走路去, 走路回家.

，。

I live close by, so I walk home.

How comes before where

The verb and vehicle go before 去 or 来 and the place: first how, then where. English puts "by bus" at the end.

？

How are you getting to the airport?

。

I go to school by bus.

× 我去学校坐公交车 → 我坐公交车去学校

Examples

。

I take the subway to work.

。

They're flying to Shanghai.

。

Xiaoyu cycles to school.

。

My dad drove me to the airport.

，。

I can't drive, so I'll take a taxi.

，。

I live close by, so I walk home.

？

How are you getting to the airport?

。

I go to school by bus.

。

Let's take the train to Xi'an.

。

He rides his bike to work every day.

？

Can you ride a horse?

，。

Let's walk, it isn't far.

地

好