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Mythic Mandarin

By subway, by car: getting around

HSK 1 Unit 7: Free time and getting around · Lesson 1 of 5 · About 16 minutes

Preview version — Chinese review in progress.

Your mission: By the end of this lesson, you can say how you travel with 坐 and 开, and ask how someone gets somewhere with 怎么.

Warm-up: do you remember?

Two quick questions from earlier lessons. Recalling before you learn makes the new material stick.

  1. Meaning

    What does 近 mean?

    1. Beijing
    2. near, close
    3. Shanghai
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, near, close.

    近 (jìn) means near, close.

  2. Characters

    Which word means “next to, beside”?

    1. 旁边
    2. 哪儿
    3. 那儿
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, 旁边.

    “next to, beside” is 旁边 (pángbiān).

New words

  • 开kāito drive, to open
  • 车chēcar, vehicle
  • 出租车chūzūchētaxi
  • 飞机fēijīplane
  • 火车huǒchētrain
  • 地铁dìtiěsubway, metro
  • 机场jīchǎngairport

Taking and driving

You 坐 (sit on, take) a train, plane, taxi or the subway. You 开 (drive) a car.

  • 我坐地铁上班。

    Wǒ zuò dìtiě shàngbān.

    I go to work by subway.

  • 他开车去公司。

    Tā kāi chē qù gōngsī.

    He drives to the office.

How you travel goes before the verb of going: 坐火车去北京, go to Beijing by train.

  • Not: 我去上海坐飞机。

    But: 我坐飞机去上海。 Wǒ zuò fēijī qù Shànghǎi.

    How you travel comes before 去.

How do you get there?

Ask with 怎么 + verb: 你怎么去？, how are you getting there? 很多 means many, a lot.

  • 你怎么去机场？

    Nǐ zěnme qù jīchǎng?

    How are you getting to the airport?

  • 路上车很多。

    Lùshang chē hěn duō.

    There is a lot of traffic. (There are many cars on the road.)

Characters

Open a character to see how it is written, stroke by stroke, with its meanings and words.

How do you get to work?

Li Ming and Anna talk about their commute.

Listen first

Play the whole conversation and answer the questions before you open the transcript.

  1. Listening

    Listen first. How does Anna get to work?

    1. by subway
    2. by car
    3. by taxi
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, by subway.

    安娜 says 我坐地铁.

  2. Listening

    Why is driving slow?

    1. His car is old and often breaks down.
    2. There are many cars on the road.
    3. His office is far from home.
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, There are many cars on the road..

    李明 says 路上车很多.

Show the transcript
Pinyin
Translation

  1. 李明

    安娜Ānnà，你nǐ每天měitiān怎么zěnme上班shàngbān？

    Anna, how do you get to work every day?

  2. 安娜

    我Wǒ坐zuò地铁dìtiě。你Nǐ呢ne？

    I take the subway. And you?

  3. 李明

    我Wǒ开kāi车chē。

    I drive.

  4. 安娜

    开Kāi车chē快kuài吗ma？

    Is driving fast?

  5. 李明

    不Bú快kuài！路上Lùshang车chē很hěn多duō。

    Not at all! There are lots of cars on the road.

  6. 安娜

    地铁Dìtiě很hěn快kuài，也yě很hěn便宜piányi。

    The subway is fast, and cheap too.

  7. 李明

    明天Míngtiān我wǒ也yě坐zuò地铁dìtiě！

    Tomorrow I'll take the subway too!

Speak: listen, record, compare

Listen to each model, record yourself, then play both and compare: the rhythm, the tones, the vowels. No automatic score: your ear is the judge.

  • 我开车。

    Wǒ kāi chē.

    I drive.

  • 开车快吗？

    Kāi chē kuài ma?

    Is driving fast?

  • 我坐地铁。你呢？

    Wǒ zuò dìtiě. Nǐ ne?

    I take the subway. And you?

Practice

  1. Meaning

    What does 开 mean?

    1. very, extremely
    2. kuai (unit of money, spoken)
    3. to drive, to open
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, to drive, to open.

    开 (kāi) means to drive, to open.

  2. Characters

    Which word means “car, vehicle”?

    1. 到
    2. 近
    3. 车
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, 车.

    “car, vehicle” is 车 (chē).

  3. Pinyin

    How do you read 出租车 (taxi)?

    1. chūzúchē
    2. chūzūchē
    3. chǔzūchē
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, chūzūchē.

    出租车 is read chūzūchē. Check the tone mark on every syllable.

  4. Listening

    Listen. What does the word mean?

    Cannot listen? Read it instead

    飞机 fēijī

    1. plane
    2. to buy
    3. to walk, to go
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, plane.

    You heard 飞机 (fēijī): plane.

  5. Pinyin

    Type the pinyin of 火车 (train). Tone marks or tone numbers are welcome.

    Show the answer

    Answer: huǒchē

    火车 is huǒchē in pinyin.

  6. Grammar

    Which sentence means I go to Shanghai by train?

    1. 我坐火车去上海。
    2. 我去上海坐火车。
    3. 我火车坐去上海。
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, 我坐火车去上海。.

    我坐火车去上海。 坐 + vehicle before 去.

  7. Fill the gap

    Complete: I drive to work.

    我＿＿车上班。

    1. 开
    2. 坐
    3. 走
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, 开.

    我开车上班。 You 开 a car you drive yourself.

  8. In context

    You want to know how your friend is getting to the airport. What do you ask?

    1. 你怎么去机场？
    2. 你几点去机场？
    3. 你去机场吗？
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, 你怎么去机场？.

    你怎么去机场？: 你怎么去机场: how are you getting to the airport?

  9. Your turn

    Type the Chinese for to take a plane

    Show the answer

    Answer: 坐飞机

    坐飞机: to take a plane.

How you get around

Say out loud how you get to three places you go to often.

  1. 我坐…去…。
  2. 我开车 (or 走) 去…。
  3. Ask a friend: 你怎么…？

Sentence frames

  • 我坐＿＿去＿＿。

    Wǒ zuò ＿＿ qù ＿＿.

    I take the ... to ...

Record your attempt (three and a half minutes at most) and listen back:

Review and finish

Can you do this? If a line feels shaky, go back to that part before you move on.

  • I can say 坐地铁, 坐火车, 坐飞机 and 开车.
  • I put the way of travelling before 去.

Review works best spaced out: answer these exercises again tomorrow, then after a few days. Your progress is saved in this browser.

Completing records that you finished the lesson. Mastery is separate: it grows as reviews bring the exercises back and you answer them correctly.

Next lesson: Films, music and sport