v.
To rest one's weight on the ground, depicted by two people kneeling on the earth. To sit; to take a bus, train, or plane; to be located or situated.
坐
Common Usage & Traps
- 坐飞机 — to fly / to take a plane
- 坐火车 — to take a train
- 坐地铁 — to take the subway
- 坐下 — to sit down (the motion of getting into a seat)
- 请坐 — please have a seat (polite, said to guests)
- 坐在椅子上 — to sit on a chair
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坐一个飞机坐飞机English 'a plane' pushes learners to insert 一个, but Chinese drops the counting word when the vehicle is generic.
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我坐椅子我坐在椅子上 / 我坐椅子上Bare 坐 plus a bare object sounds cut off. Natives glue on 在...上, or at least 上, to land the person somewhere.
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我去北京坐飞机 (meaning: I flew to Beijing)我坐飞机去北京Flipping 坐 and 去 turns the flight into the purpose of the trip, not the method you used.
What is the difference between 坐 and 坐下?
坐 is the position you are already in. 坐下 is the motion of getting there.
坐下 adds 下, the same 'down' you see in 下来, so it describes dropping into a seat. 坐 alone just describes being seated, or sitting in general. That is why a host waves you toward the sofa with 请坐, while a doctor points at the chair and says 请坐下. Use 坐下 when you want the person to actually move and plant themselves.
| Dimension | Natural | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| What it describes | 坐: you are already in the seat | 坐下: the move into the seat |
| Welcoming a guest at home | 您请坐 | 您请坐下 (sounds like a drill order) |
| Directing someone to park it now | 请坐下 | 请坐 (too soft, they may keep standing) |
If you flew to Beijing, why is 我去北京坐飞机 the wrong sentence?
我去北京坐飞机 says you went to Beijing in order to catch a plane.
Chinese stacks the trip in order: how you travel first, destination second. So 我坐飞机去北京 means the flight carried you to Beijing. Flip the two, and 去北京 becomes the purpose of the whole trip. Anyone hearing 我去北京坐飞机 pictures you heading to a Beijing airport to board a flight. Same logic works for 坐火车回老家 and 坐地铁去上班.
| Dimension | Natural | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning A: the plane is how you got there | 坐飞机去北京 | 去北京坐飞机 |
| Meaning B: Beijing is where you catch the plane | 去北京坐飞机 | 坐飞机去北京 |
| Talking about your commute | 坐地铁去上班 | 去上班坐地铁 (only if you mean you go there to board) |
Where does 在 go when you tell someone you are sitting on a chair?
在 hugs the chair, not the verb: 坐在椅子上. Putting it before 坐 stalls the sentence.
坐 names the action, and 在 pins down the exact spot, so the two stay glued as 坐在 plus a place. That gives you 他坐在地上, 别坐在桌子上, 我们坐在窗边. In fast speech people simply drop 在 and keep 上: 你坐沙发上, 你坐这儿. But 他在椅子上坐 leaves the listener hanging, waiting for the rest of the story.
| Dimension | Natural | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Stating where someone is sitting | 他坐在椅子上 | 他在椅子上坐 |
| Casual spoken version | 你坐沙发上吧 | 你坐沙发在吧 |
| Pointing at a spot right now | 坐这儿吧 | 在椅子坐吧 |
Does 坐 mean 'sit' or 'take' in 坐飞机?
坐 covers anything you ride as a passenger — you are literally 'sitting' the plane.
Chinese treats riding as sitting inside the thing, so 坐飞机 means taking a plane. The same verb handles 坐火车, 坐地铁, 坐出租车, even 坐电梯. It stops at anything you straddle or work with your own legs: a bike is 骑自行车, and on foot you 走路 or 走过去. Think 'seated passenger', not 'driver of a vehicle'.
“从北京到上海坐飞机，不到两个小时，但是要坐火车，就要最少五个多小时。” (Flying from Beijing to Shanghai takes less than two hours, but if you take the train, it takes at least five hours or more.)
“从北京到上海坐飞机，不到两个小时，但是要坐火车，就要最少五个多小时。” (Flying from Beijing to Shanghai takes less than two hours, but if you take the train, it takes at least five hours or more.)
| Dimension | Natural | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Riding as a passenger | 坐飞机 / 坐火车 / 坐出租车 | 坐自行车 (you 骑自行车) |
| Getting somewhere on foot | 走路去 / 走过去 | 坐去 (no vehicle named) |
| Spelling the same sound | 坐飞机 (the sitting 坐) | 做飞机 (the doing 做) |
Appears in Stories 3 stories
Real context sentences across different daily scenarios and graded readings.
Why would a millionaire leave a table of lobster and wagyu untouched? This story explores the hidden rules of business dining and the true cost of staying alert.
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我 坐 他对面，看见他把那块肉夹起来，放到了骨碟边沿，跟那根早就夹过来，但其实没吃的青菜并排摆着，整整齐齐。
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他让我先上车， 坐 司机后边。
Read this short story about people waiting in the rain for a new phone. You will practice numbers, time, and everyday vocabulary.
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晚上，我 坐 出租车去大学那边的苹果商店买手机。
Meet Xiao Shang, who is heading back to Shanghai. She compares two ways to travel and tells us why she prefers the slower one. This story helps you practice comparing transportation in simple Chinese.
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从北京到上海 坐 飞机，不到两个小时，但是要 坐 火车，就要最少五个多小时。
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但是她可能会 坐 火车回上海。
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