跑 (pǎo) means "to run" — locomotion at speed, feet leaving the ground. It's the verb of jogging (跑步), of racing (跑得快), of a child tearing around the yard (跑来跑去), and, on its own, of getting away (小偷跑了 "the thief fled"). Two things trip learners up. First, 跑 is not the everyday word for "leave / go" — that's 走; 跑 always adds the idea of speed or escape. Second, its near-neighbour 爬 (pá) "climb / crawl" is only a tone and a consonant away, yet does a completely different job. This page keeps both in view.
Sense 1: run (as motion or exercise)
The base sense. As exercise it's the two-syllable word 跑步 (pǎobù) "go running / jog"; as raw speed it's 跑得快 (pǎo de kuài) "run fast".
我每天早上都去公园跑步。
wǒ měitiān zǎoshang dōu qù gōngyuán pǎobù
I go jogging in the park every morning. — 跑步 'go running / jog'.
他跑得比我快多了。
tā pǎo de bǐ wǒ kuài duō le
He runs much faster than I do. — 跑得快, a manner complement.
孩子们在院子里跑来跑去。
háizimen zài yuànzi lǐ pǎolái pǎoqù
The kids are running around the yard. — 跑来跑去 'run back and forth'.
Sense 2: run off / flee / get away
Used intransitively, especially with 了, 跑 shrinks to "make a break for it". 小偷跑了 is not "the thief ran (some laps)" — it's "the thief escaped". 逃跑 (táopǎo) makes the "flee" sense explicit.
小偷一看见警察就跑了。
xiǎotōu yí kànjiàn jǐngchá jiù pǎo le
The thief bolted the moment he saw the police. — 跑了 'fled, got away'.
快抓住它，别让狗跑了！
kuài zhuāzhù tā, bié ràng gǒu pǎo le
Grab it, quick — don't let the dog get away! — 跑了 'escape'.
Sense 3: dash around doing errands — 跑腿
跑 colloquially means "dash off somewhere to do X": 跑去买东西 "run off to buy something", 跑一趟 "make a trip". The set noun 跑腿 (pǎotuǐ) "run errands / be a gofer" packages this.
这种跑腿的活儿总是我来做。
zhè zhǒng pǎotuǐ de huór zǒngshì wǒ lái zuò
This kind of errand-running always falls to me. — 跑腿 'run errands'.
为了办这个手续，我跑了三趟。
wèile bàn zhège shǒuxù, wǒ pǎo le sān tàng
I made three trips to get this paperwork done. — 跑 'dash somewhere', with a frequency complement 三趟.
Sense 4: 跑 as a directional complement
Hung after another verb, or before 来/去, 跑 supplies fast motion: 跑过来 (pǎo guòlái) "run over here", 跑出去 (pǎo chūqù) "run out", 跑回家 (pǎo huí jiā) "run home".
那条狗朝我跑过来了。
nà tiáo gǒu cháo wǒ pǎo guòlái le
That dog came running toward me. — 跑过来, run + directional.
The near-neighbour 爬 (pá) — climb / crawl
One tone over from 跑, 爬 (pá) means "climb" or "crawl": 爬山 (pá shān) "hike / climb a mountain", 爬楼梯 (pá lóutī) "climb the stairs", and of a baby, 会爬了 "can crawl now". Note that Chinese "hiking" is 爬山 (literally "climb mountain"), not anything built on 跑.
我们周末去爬山吧。
wǒmen zhōumò qù pá shān ba
Let's go hiking this weekend. — 爬山 'hike / climb a mountain'.
电梯坏了，只能爬楼梯。
diàntī huài le, zhǐ néng pá lóutī
The elevator's broken, so we have to take the stairs. — 爬楼梯 'climb the stairs'.
Key collocations
| Phrase | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 跑步 | pǎobù | run, jog (as exercise) |
| 跑得快 | pǎo de kuài | run fast |
| 跑来跑去 | pǎolái pǎoqù | run back and forth |
| 跑腿 | pǎotuǐ | run errands |
| 逃跑 | táopǎo | flee, escape |
| 跑过来 | pǎo guòlái | run over (here) |
| 跑步机 | pǎobùjī | treadmill |
| 爬山 | pá shān | hike, climb a mountain |
| 爬楼梯 | pá lóutī | climb the stairs |
Grammar notes: 跑步 is separable, and verb-copying
跑步 is a separable verb (离合词): 步 is a built-in bound object, so aspect and quantity slot inside the word — 跑了两次步 "ran twice", 跑了半个小时步 "ran for half an hour". You cannot say ✗跑步了半个小时.
That same built-in object is why a manner complement forces verb-copying: to say "runs fast" while keeping 跑步, you repeat the verb — 跑步跑得快. The complement 得快 has to attach to a bare 跑, so 跑 gets copied out from behind 步. (If you drop 步 entirely, plain 跑得快 is also fine.)
她跑步跑得非常快。
tā pǎobù pǎo de fēicháng kuài
She runs (jogs) extremely fast. — verb-copying: 跑步 → 跑得快.
Common Mistakes
1. Treating 跑步 as inseparable. Time and frequency go inside; you can't tack an object-length onto the whole word.
❌ 我今天跑步了半个小时。
跑步 splits — the duration goes inside: 跑了半个小时步 (or 跑步跑了半个小时).
✅ 我今天跑了半个小时步。
wǒ jīntiān pǎo le bàn ge xiǎoshí bù
I ran for half an hour today.
2. Omitting verb-copying with a manner complement. 得 must sit on a bare 跑, not after 跑步.
❌ 他跑步得很快。
You can't hang 得 on 跑步 — copy the verb: 跑步跑得很快 (or just 跑得很快).
✅ 他跑步跑得很快。
tā pǎobù pǎo de hěn kuài
He runs very fast.
3. Using 跑 where you mean 走 (leave). 跑 = run at speed / flee; ordinary "go, leave" is 走.
❌ 太晚了，我得跑了。
This sounds like 'I have to run for it / flee'. For 'I should get going', use 走.
✅ 太晚了，我得走了。
tài wǎn le, wǒ děi zǒu le
It's late — I should get going.
4. Building "hiking" on 跑. Climbing a mountain is 爬山, not anything with 跑.
❌ 周末我们去跑山。
Not a word — 'go hiking / climb a mountain' is 爬山, with 爬 (pá) 'climb'.
✅ 周末我们去爬山。
zhōumò wǒmen qù pá shān
We're going hiking this weekend.
Key Takeaways
- 跑 = run at speed (跑步, 跑得快, 跑来跑去); on its own 跑了 often means "got away / fled".
- 跑 also means "dash around doing errands" — 跑腿, 跑一趟 — and works as a directional complement: 跑过来, 跑出去.
- 跑步 is separable: 跑了半个小时步. A manner complement needs verb-copying: 跑步跑得快.
- Don't use 跑 for plain "leave" — that's 走. 跑 implies speed or escape.
- The near-pair 爬 (pá) = climb / crawl: 爬山 = hike, 爬楼梯 = take the stairs.
Now practice Chinese
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Chinese→Related Topics
- 走 (zǒu) — walk / leave / goHSK 1 — 走 (zǒu) is both 'walk / go on foot' (走路, 往前走) and, just as commonly, 'leave / set off' (我走了, 该走了) — it's an intransitive verb, so a destination still takes 去, not 走.
- 起 (qǐ) — rise / get upHSK 2 — 起 (qǐ) means 'rise / get up' (起床, 起来), but its real workload is as the complement 起来 — physical (站起来), inceptive 'begin to' (下起雨来), and evaluative 'seems' (看起来). It's also the 'afford' potential: 买得起 / 买不起.
- 去 (qù) — to goHSK 1 — 去 (qù) is 'go, away from where the speaker is': the destination attaches directly (去北京, no 'to'), it frames purpose in serial verbs (去买东西), and it works as a directional complement (回去, 拿去) — the mirror image of 来 (lái).