Day 17: Getting around
Chinese uses three different verbs where English uses one:
坐地铁 (sit the subway) · 骑自行车 (straddle a bike) · 开车 (drive a car)
And today introduces a structure that runs through the whole language: ★ two verbs in one sentence, in the order the actions happen. 坐地铁去学校 — "sit-subway go school" = go to school by subway. No preposition anywhere.
1. ★★ 坐, 骑, 开
| Verb | Literally | Use for |
|---|---|---|
| ★ 坐 zuò | to sit | ★ bus, subway, train, plane, taxi, boat — anything you sit in |
| ★ 骑 qí | to straddle | ★ bicycle, motorbike, horse, scooter — anything you sit astride |
| ★ 开 kāi | to drive, operate | ★ a car you are driving yourself |
| 走路 zǒulù | to walk | on foot |
| 坐地铁 | take the subway |
|---|---|
| 坐公交车 | take the bus |
| 坐出租车 | take a taxi |
| 坐飞机 | fly |
| 骑自行车 | cycle |
| 开车 | drive |
| 走路 | walk |
⚠️ ★ 开 means you are the driver. 我坐出租车 = I take a taxi (someone else drives). 我开车 = I drive. Getting these backwards is a real error, not a stylistic one.
The vehicles
| 地铁 dìtiě | subway | 公交车 gōngjiāochē | bus | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 出租车 / 的士 | taxi | 火车 huǒchē | train | |
| 高铁 gāotiě | ★ high-speed rail | 飞机 fēijī | plane | |
| 自行车 zìxíngchē | bicycle | 电动车 diàndòngchē | e-bike | |
| 车 chē | car, vehicle | 共享单车 | shared bike |
★ 车 chē is the general word for a wheeled vehicle, and it is the second half of most of these: 公交车, 出租车, 火车, 自行车. One character, huge coverage.
2. ★★ Two verbs, in the order things happen
### 坐 + vehicle + 去 + place — take-vehicle go place
| 我坐地铁去学校。 | I go to school by subway |
|---|---|
| 我坐公交车去公司。 | I take the bus to work |
| 我骑自行车去。 | I cycle there |
| 我开车去机场。 | I drive to the airport |
| 我走路去。 | I walk there |
★ This is a serial verb construction, and it is one of the most characteristic things about Chinese. Two verbs, no and, no preposition, no infinitive — just the actions in the order they happen.
⚠️ English says "go BY subway"; Chinese says "sit subway go". 我去学校坐地铁 ❌ — the taking comes first because it happens first.
★ And it stacks with Day 15's word order:
我每天坐地铁去学校。 — Time → verb-phrase → verb.我明天开车去机场。
3. The subway
| 几号线? | ★ Which line? |
|---|---|
| 坐几号线? | Which line do I take? |
| 在哪儿换? | ★ Where do I change? |
| 换乘 huànchéng | to transfer |
| 下一站是哪儿? | What's the next stop? |
| 几号出口? | ★ Which exit? |
| 我在哪儿下车? | Where do I get off? |
★ Lines are numbered and use Sino numbers: 一号线, 二号线, 十号线. ⚠️ ★ Exits are numbered too, and Chinese stations can have a dozen of them, hundreds of metres apart. 地铁站三号出口见 (see you at exit 3) is how people arrange to meet.
| 上车 shàng chē | get on |
|---|---|
| 下车 xià chē | get off |
| ★ 上 / 下 | ★ the same up/down pair as 上午/下午 and 上个月/下个月 |
4. Buses and taxis
Buses
| 几路车? | ★ Which bus number? |
|---|---|
| 这车去火车站吗? | Does this bus go to the station? |
| 到了叫我一声。 | Tell me when we get there |
⚠️ Buses use 路 lù, not 号 — 三路车 (the number 3 bus). Subway lines use 号线.
Taxis
| ★ 师傅,去火车站。 | Driver, to the station (Day 4's 师傅) |
|---|---|
| 打车 / 打的 | to get a taxi |
| 请到这儿。 (showing a phone) | ★ Here, please |
| 在这儿停。 | Stop here |
| 麻烦快一点儿。 | A bit faster, please |
| 到了。 | We're here |
★ 请到这儿 while showing a map on your phone is the entire taxi conversation. You do not need to pronounce the address.
⚠️ ★ Most people use a ride-hailing app (滴滴 Dīdī) rather than hailing on the street — the destination is typed in, and there is nothing to say at all.
Time and distance
| 要多长时间? | How long does it take? |
|---|---|
| 大概半个小时。 | About half an hour |
| 堵车。 | ★ There's traffic |
| 今天很堵。 | It's very congested today |
5. Dialogue
Alex: 请问,去火车站怎么走?小明: 太远了,走路不行。坐地铁吧。Alex: 坐几号线?小明: 先坐二号线,在人民广场换十号线。Alex: 在哪儿下车?小明: 火车站站。三号出口。Alex: 要多长时间?小明: 大概四十分钟。Alex: 我可以打车吗?小明: 可以,但是现在很堵。地铁快一点儿。Alex: 好,我坐地铁去。 (在出租车上,第二天)Alex: 师傅,请到这儿。 (给司机看手机)司机: 好的。大概二十分钟。Alex: 谢谢。… 在这儿停,谢谢!
★ 我坐地铁去 — the serial verb, complete.★ 二号线 / 十号线 / 三号出口 — all Sino numbers, all with 号.★ And 师傅 + 请到这儿 + 在这儿停 is a whole taxi ride in three sentences.
6. Exercises
A. ★ 坐, 骑, 开, or 走路?
- ___地铁 2. ___自行车 3. ___车 (you're driving) 4. ___飞机
- ___公交车 6. ___ (on foot) 7. ___出租车 8. ___电动车
B. ★ Build the serial verb.
- I go to school by subway.
- I take the bus to work.
- I cycle there.
- I drive to the airport.
- I walk there.
C. Subway questions.
- Which line? 2. Where do I change? 3. Which exit? 4. Where do I get off?
D. ⚠️ 号 or 路?
- subway line 2 2. the number 3 bus 3. exit 5
E. In a taxi — what do you say?
- Driver, to the station. 2. Here, please. (showing a phone)
- Stop here. 4. How long does it take?
F. ⚠️ Fix the mistake.
- 我去学校坐地铁。
- 我坐自行车去。
- 我开出租车去机场。 (you're the passenger)
- 三号车 (meaning: the number 3 bus)
Answers
A. 1. 坐 2. 骑 3. 开 4. 坐 5. 坐 6. 走路 7. 坐 8. 骑 B. 1. 我坐地铁去学校。 2. 我坐公交车去公司。 3. 我骑自行车去。 4. 我开车去机场。 5. 我走路去。 C. 1. 几号线? 2. 在哪儿换? 3. 几号出口? 4. 我在哪儿下车? D. 1. 二号线 2. 三路车 3. 五号出口 E. 1. 师傅,去火车站。 2. 请到这儿。 3. 在这儿停。 4. 要多长时间? F. 1. 我坐地铁去学校 — taking comes first 2. 骑自行车 3. 坐出租车 — 开 means you drive 4. 三路车
7. Today's 10 sentences (flashcards)
- 我坐地铁去学校。 — I go to school by subway
- 我骑自行车去。 — I cycle there
- 我开车去机场。 — I drive to the airport
- 坐几号线? — Which line do I take?
- 在哪儿换? — Where do I change?
- 几号出口? — Which exit?
- 我在哪儿下车? — Where do I get off?
- 师傅,去火车站。 — Driver, to the station
- 在这儿停,谢谢。 — Stop here, thanks
- 今天很堵。 — There's a lot of traffic today
8. 📲 Upload to LangNote
Upload sections 1–2 and section 7 → study language Chinese.
| Mission | What to do with it today |
|---|---|
| 🎧 Podcast | Today's key mission. Subway announcements are the fastest Chinese you will hear |
| ✍️ Dictation | Line numbers and exit numbers — Day 8's Sino numbers in the wild |
| 🗣 Shadowing | Both halves of the dialogue |
| 🎭 Role-play | Take a taxi, then ask for subway directions. Two scenes, five turns each |
| 📖 Vocab | ★ Transport as 坐/骑/开 + vehicle + 去 phrases, never bare nouns |
★ Look up a real Beijing or Shanghai subway route tonight — pick two stations, find the line numbers and the transfer, and say the whole journey out loud in Chinese.
Tomorrow: shopping — bargaining, sizes, and 一点儿.
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