To get from one place to another, we can either walk or take a vehicle of some kind. Depending on the type of vehicle, we describe the action of taking it with the Mandarin Chinese co-verbs 坐 (zuò) or 騎/骑 (qí).
Zuò – Ride On A Seat
The co-verb 坐 (zuò) is used with any vehicle in which you can sit down. This includes cars, buses, trains, boats, or planes.
Qí – Straddle
The co-verb 騎/骑 (qí) is used for any means of conveyance that you have to straddle, such as a motorcycle, bicycle, or horse.
Sentence Construction
The structure of sentences which use either 坐 or 騎/骑 is as follows:
SUBJECT – 坐 or 騎/骑 + NOUN – DIRECTION – 來/来 or 去
For example:
他坐船到澎湖群島去。
他坐船到澎湖群岛去。
Tā zuò chuán dào péng hú qúndǎo qù.
He took a boat to the Peng Hu islands. (Literally: He by boat to Peng Hu islands go.)
Here are a few more examples:
他們坐飛機去。
他们坐飞机去。
Tāmen zuò fēijī qù.
They went by plane. (Literally: They by plane go.)我騎腳踏車到學校去。
我骑脚踏车到学校去。
Wǒ qí jiǎotàchē dào xuéxiào qù.
I go to school by bicycle.她很喜歡騎摩托車來。
她很喜欢骑摩托车来。
Tā hěn xǐhuan qí mótuōchē lái.
She likes to come by motorcycle.我們從北京坐飛機來。
我们从北京坐飞机来。
Wǒmen cóng Běijīng zuò fēijī lái.
We came from Beijing by plane.
(Source: mandarin.about.com)
Tags: Chinese Grammar, Chinese language