wǒmen zuò chuán qù.

The structure is:

我们 + 坐船 + 去
we + go by boat / take a boat + go

So the sentence follows a very common Mandarin pattern:

Subject + method of travel + 去

In natural English, this is usually translated as We’re going by boat or We’ll go by boat.

Yes, 坐 originally means to sit, but in Mandarin it is also commonly used to mean to take / ride a form of transportation.

For example:

• 坐车 = go by car / bus / vehicle
• 坐飞机 = go by plane
• 坐火车 = go by train
• 坐船 = go by boat

So in this sentence, 坐船 means to take a boat or to go by boat, not literally to sit on a boat.

Mandarin often does not need a separate preposition like English by in this kind of sentence.

Instead of saying something like go by boat, Mandarin simply says:

坐船去
literally: take boat go

This is a very normal and natural way to express means of transportation in Chinese.

Yes, in this sentence 坐船 works as a verb phrase meaning to go by boat or to take a boat.

Even though it is made of two words:

• 坐 = take / ride
• 船 = boat

together they function as one action phrase.

So learners should usually read the sentence in chunks like this:

我们 / 坐船 / 去

去 adds the idea of going.

• 我们坐船。 = We take a boat / We are riding a boat.
• 我们坐船去。 = We go by boat.

In many contexts, 去 helps show movement away from the speaker or toward another place. It often appears when talking about how someone is going somewhere.

Even if the destination is not stated, 去 still sounds natural.

Mandarin often leaves out information that is already understood from context.

So 我们坐船去 can mean:

• We’re going by boat.
• We’ll go by boat.

If the destination is important, you can add it:

• 我们坐船去上海。 = We’re going to Shanghai by boat.
• 我们坐船去那儿。 = We’re going there by boat.

Without a destination, the sentence is still complete if the situation makes it clear.

Not exactly.

• 我们坐船去 = We go by boat.
  This focuses on the means of travel.

• 我们去坐船 = We’re going to go ride/take a boat.
  This sounds more like we’re going in order to take a boat or we’re going boating, depending on context.

So the two sentences are related, but they are not the same.

我们 is pronounced wǒmen.

A useful point for learners: 们 is usually pronounced with a neutral tone here, so it is not stressed strongly.

So it sounds like:

• wǒ = third tone
• men = neutral tone

Not every syllable in Mandarin is equally strong, and this is a common example.

Sometimes, yes.

• 我们 = we / us
• 咱们 = we / us, often including the listener

So:

• 我们坐船去 = We’re going by boat.
• 咱们坐船去 = Let’s go by boat / We’ll go by boat, including you

Whether 咱们 works depends on whether the speaker wants to include the person being spoken to. 我们 is the safer and more general choice.

Not necessarily. 船 is a general word for boat or ship.

Its exact meaning depends on context. It can refer to:

• a small boat
• a ferry
• a larger ship

If you want to be more specific, Chinese can use other words, such as:

• 小船 = small boat
• 轮船 = ship / steamer
• 游船 = sightseeing boat

But in 坐船去, 船 is just the normal general word.

Not unless you want to express a completed action or a change of situation.

• 我们坐船去。 = We go / are going / will go by boat.
• 我们坐船去了。 = We went by boat / We’ve gone by boat / We’re off by boat, depending on context.

Mandarin often leaves tense unstated and lets context do the work. So the sentence without 了 is perfectly normal.