I can say how I'm traveling — by subway, bus, taxi, train, plane, or driving — and ask how someone gets somewhere.
How you get there: 坐 and 开, 怎么去
How you get there: 坐 and 开, 怎么去
What for: say how you travel and understand how others get there.
Pattern: who + 坐 / 开 + vehicle + 去 / 来 / 回 + place. The first verb says how, the second where to: 他们坐飞机来北京。(Tāmen zuò fēijī lái Běijīng.) (They're coming to Beijing by plane.) English “by subway” is a preposition; Chinese uses a verb, 坐 “to sit, to ride”.
坐: as a passenger, on any transport. 开: at the wheel: 开车 (kāichē) “to drive a car”, 开出租车 (kāi chūzūchē) “to drive a taxi”. 开车去 already has the car in it: not ×坐开车 (zuò kāichē).
怎么 + verb: “how, in what way”; it stands in the place of the answer, and the word order doesn't change: 你怎么去？— 我开车去。(Nǐ zěnme qù? — Wǒ kāichē qù.)
“Not” (不) goes before the first verb: 我们不坐飞机去。(Wǒmen bú zuò fēijī qù.) (We won't go by plane.)
Fact: in big Chinese cities the main transport is the subway and the bus.
Common mistakes:
• ×我在地铁去学校 (Wǒ zài dìtiě qù xuéxiào.) → 我坐地铁去学校。(Wǒ zuò dìtiě qù xuéxiào.) (“by subway” is 坐地铁, not 在)
• ×我坐开车去 (Wǒ zuò kāichē qù.) → 我开车去。(Wǒ kāichē qù.) (at the wheel: 开车去)
• ×他去学校怎么？(Tā qù xuéxiào zěnme?) → 他怎么去学校？(Tā zěnme qù xuéxiào?) (怎么 before the verb)
• English puts “by subway” last, but in Chinese the order changes the meaning: 坐地铁去公司 (zuò dìtiě qù gōngsī) — “take the subway to the company”, 去公司坐地铁 (qù gōngsī zuò dìtiě) — “go to the company to take the subway”.
Two verbs in a row: how and where to
The first verb is how you travel, the second is where to.
| Who | How | 去 / 来 / 回 | Where to |
|---|---|---|---|
| 伊万 (Yīwàn) | 坐火车 (zuò huǒchē) | 去 (qù) | 成都 (Chéngdū) |
| 杨先生 (Yáng xiānsheng) | 开车 (kāichē) | 回 (huí) | 家 (jiā) |
| 他们 (Tāmen) | 坐地铁 (zuò dìtiě) | 来 (lái) | 这儿 (zhèr) |
坐 or 开
坐 — you're a passenger; 开 — you're driving.
| 坐 (zuò) — as a passenger | 开 (kāi) — driving |
|---|---|
| 飞机 (fēijī), 火车 (huǒchē), 出租车 (chūzūchē), 地铁 (dìtiě), 公交车 (gōngjiāochē), 车 (chē) | 车 (chē), 出租车 (chūzūchē), 公交车 (gōngjiāochē) |
Lesson notes
How you get there: 坐 and 开, 怎么去
What for: say how you travel and understand how others get there.
Pattern: who + 坐 / 开 + vehicle + 去 / 来 / 回 + place. The first verb says how, the second where to: 他们坐飞机来北京。(Tāmen zuò fēijī lái Běijīng.) (They're coming to Beijing by plane.) English “by subway” is a preposition; Chinese uses a verb, 坐 “to sit, to ride”.
坐: as a passenger, on any transport. 开: at the wheel: 开车 (kāichē) “to drive a car”, 开出租车 (kāi chūzūchē) “to drive a taxi”. 开车去 already has the car in it: not ×坐开车 (zuò kāichē).
怎么 + verb: “how, in what way”; it stands in the place of the answer, and the word order doesn't change: 你怎么去？— 我开车去。(Nǐ zěnme qù? — Wǒ kāichē qù.)
“Not” (不) goes before the first verb: 我们不坐飞机去。(Wǒmen bú zuò fēijī qù.) (We won't go by plane.)
Fact: in big Chinese cities the main transport is the subway and the bus.
Common mistakes:
• ×我在地铁去学校 (Wǒ zài dìtiě qù xuéxiào.) → 我坐地铁去学校。(Wǒ zuò dìtiě qù xuéxiào.) (“by subway” is 坐地铁, not 在)
• ×我坐开车去 (Wǒ zuò kāichē qù.) → 我开车去。(Wǒ kāichē qù.) (at the wheel: 开车去)
• ×他去学校怎么？(Tā qù xuéxiào zěnme?) → 他怎么去学校？(Tā zěnme qù xuéxiào?) (怎么 before the verb)
• English puts “by subway” last, but in Chinese the order changes the meaning: 坐地铁去公司 (zuò dìtiě qù gōngsī) — “take the subway to the company”, 去公司坐地铁 (qù gōngsī zuò dìtiě) — “go to the company to take the subway”.