趟 (Trips) | Chinese (Mandarin) Grammar

趟 (tàng) is a verbal measure word with a very concrete meaning: it counts round trips — a whole "there-and-back" journey to a place. When you say 去了一趟北京 (qù le yí tàng Běijīng), you aren't just noting that a visit happened; you're packaging the entire out-and-back errand into a single unit. English handles this with the loose noun "a trip" ("I made a trip to Beijing"), but Chinese folds it into the verb phrase as a counted measure. That is the key mental shift: 趟 is not "a place" or "a time" — it is one complete going-and-coming, and it lives in the same post-verb slot as every other verbal measure.

The round-trip image

趟 attaches to motion verbs — 去 (go), 来 (come), 跑 (run/dash), 回 (return), 送 (deliver) — and counts each complete journey. The structure is the standard frequency pattern: Verb (+ 了/过) + Number + 趟 + (place).

我去了一趟北京，见了个老朋友。

wǒ qù le yí tàng Běijīng, jiàn le ge lǎo péngyou

I made a trip to Beijing and saw an old friend. (informal) — 去了 + 一趟 + place: one whole round trip.

你去一趟银行，帮我取点钱，好吗？

nǐ qù yí tàng yínháng, bāng wǒ qǔ diǎn qián, hǎo ma?

Go to the bank and get some money out for me, would you? (informal) — 一趟 frames the errand as a single quick run.

我今天跑了三趟超市，还是没买齐。

wǒ jīntiān pǎo le sān tàng chāoshì, háishi méi mǎi qí

I ran to the supermarket three times today and still didn't get everything. (informal) — 三趟 counts three separate round trips.

麻烦你再来一趟，材料还差一份。

máfan nǐ zài lái yí tàng, cáiliào hái chà yí fèn

Sorry to trouble you to come by once more — one document is still missing. (polite) — 再来一趟, another trip over.

💡

Reach for 趟 whenever there is real physical going-and-coming — a trip to the bank, a run to the shop, a visit home. If the action involves no journey (reading, phoning, thinking), 趟 is impossible; use 次 or 遍 instead.

白跑一趟 — the "wasted trip"

Because 趟 already means a full round trip, it combines beautifully with 白 (bái, "in vain, for nothing") to form the everyday idiom 白跑一趟 — to make a wasted journey, to go all the way there for nothing.

白跑了一趟，人家根本没开门。

bái pǎo le yí tàng, rénjia gēnběn méi kāimén

Wasted the whole trip — they weren't even open. (informal) — 白跑一趟, the standard 'trip for nothing.'

早知道你不在，我就不白跑这一趟了。

zǎo zhīdào nǐ bú zài, wǒ jiù bù bái pǎo zhè yí tàng le

If I'd known you weren't in, I wouldn't have made this trip for nothing. (informal) — 这一趟 points at the specific wasted journey.

Here 次 would sound flat: the point is the physical effort of the journey, which is exactly what 趟 carries and 次 does not.

趟 for scheduled transport runs

By a natural extension of the same "there-and-back service" image, 趟 also works as a noun measure for scheduled runs of trains, buses, subways and flights — each departure is one "run" on the line.

下一趟地铁三分钟后到。

xià yí tàng dìtiě sān fēnzhōng hòu dào

The next subway comes in three minutes. (neutral) — 下一趟, the next scheduled run.

这趟火车是直达的，中间不停。

zhè tàng huǒchē shì zhídá de, zhōngjiān bù tíng

This train is a direct one — it doesn't stop in between. (neutral) — 这趟车 = this particular service.

This nominal use is common in daily life (末班车、下一趟公交), and it shares the DNA of the verbal one: a train run, like an errand, is a bounded there-and-back movement.

Phrase	Pinyin	Meaning
去一趟	qù yí tàng	make a trip (there)
跑一趟	pǎo yí tàng	run an errand, dash over
白跑一趟	bái pǎo yí tàng	make a wasted trip
回一趟老家	huí yí tàng lǎojiā	make a trip back home
这趟车	zhè tàng chē	this train/bus run

趟 vs 次 — journey versus occasion

Both 趟 and 次 can count a visit, and both are grammatical, so this is a matter of vividness rather than right-and-wrong. 次 is the neutral tally of occasions; 趟 foregrounds the journey — the effort of going and coming back. Compare:

我去过一次北京。

wǒ qù guo yí cì Běijīng

I've been to Beijing once. (neutral) — 次 simply logs it as one experience.

我特地去了一趟北京。

wǒ tèdì qù le yí tàng Běijīng

I made a special trip to Beijing. (informal) — 趟 stresses the deliberate journey there and back.

The rule of thumb: for life experience ("I've been there once"), 次 is natural; for a concrete errand you took the trouble to make, 趟 is more vivid. Crucially, only 次/遍 work for non-motion actions — you cannot make a "trip" of reading a book or making a phone call.

Common Mistakes

1. Using 趟 for an action that involves no journey. 趟 requires physical going somewhere. A phone call or a read-through takes 次/遍, never 趟.

❌ 我给他打了一趟电话。

Incorrect — a phone call is not a journey; use 一次: 打了一次电话.

✅ 我给他打了一次电话。

wǒ gěi tā dǎ le yí cì diànhuà

I called him once. — 次 for a plain occurrence.

2. Flattening the set phrase 白跑一趟 into 白跑一次. The idiom lives on 趟's "journey" meaning; 次 kills it.

❌ 我白跑了一次。

Unidiomatic — the fixed expression is 白跑了一趟, keyed to the physical trip.

✅ 我白跑了一趟。

wǒ bái pǎo le yí tàng

I made the trip for nothing. — 趟 is the idiomatic measure.

3. Putting the frequency phrase before the verb. Like all verbal measures, 趟 follows the verb; it is not a pre-verbal adverb.

❌ 我一趟去了北京。

Incorrect — the frequency phrase goes after the verb: 去了一趟北京.

✅ 我去了一趟北京。

wǒ qù le yí tàng Běijīng

I made a trip to Beijing. — 去了 first, then 一趟.

4. Using 二 instead of 两 before 趟. To count trips, "two" is 两, never 二.

❌ 我今天跑了二趟。

Incorrect — before a measure word 'two' is 两, not 二.

✅ 我今天跑了两趟。

wǒ jīntiān pǎo le liǎng tàng

I made two trips today. — 两趟, not 二趟.

Key Takeaways

趟 (tàng) counts a round trip — a whole there-and-back journey — and attaches to motion verbs: 去了一趟, 跑了三趟, 回一趟老家.
It sits in the standard post-verb slot: Verb + 了/过 + Number + 趟 + place (去了一趟北京).
The idiom 白跑一趟 (make a wasted trip) is keyed to 趟's journey meaning — don't swap in 次.
By extension 趟 counts scheduled transport runs: 下一趟地铁, 这趟火车.
趟 vs 次: 趟 highlights the physical journey, 次 just tallies occasions; both are grammatical for visits, but only 次/遍 work for non-motion actions. Use 两趟, not 二趟.

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