Breakdown of wǒmen zǒu lóutī shàngqù ba.
Questions & Answers about wǒmen zǒu lóutī shàngqù ba.
In this sentence, 走 is closer to “go (on foot)” or “take (by walking)” rather than literally emphasizing the act of walking.
- 走楼梯 = “take the stairs / go by the stairs”, i.e., choose stairs as the method of going.
- If you said 我们去楼上吧, that focuses only on going upstairs (destination), without saying how you go.
- By saying 我们走楼梯上去吧, you contrast stairs with other options like the elevator or escalator: “Let’s go up using the stairs.”
So 走 here is about the means of movement (on foot, via stairs), not just “walk” in the narrow sense.
吧 softens the sentence and turns it into a suggestion:
- Without 吧: 我们走楼梯上去。 → sounds more like a statement or an instruction: “We’re going up the stairs.”
- With 吧: 我们走楼梯上去吧。 → “Let’s go up the stairs.” (friendly, inviting, not commanding)
So 吧:
- Makes the tone more polite and softer.
- Indicates the speaker is proposing or suggesting this plan to others.
上去 is a directional complement, telling you which way you go: upwards and away from the current position.
- 走楼梯 by itself just means “take the stairs / walk the stairs” with no explicit direction.
- 走楼梯上去 = “go up (there) by the stairs.”
Breaking it down:
- 上 = “up”
- 去 = “go away (from here)” / “away from the speaker”
Together, 上去 describes movement upward and generally away from where the speaker is now. It turns a bare action into a complete movement: “go up (there) using the stairs.”
上去 vs 上来 express direction relative to the speaker:
- 上去: go up away from the speaker.
- 上来: come up toward the speaker.
Use them according to the speaker’s point of view:
- If you and your friend are downstairs and you’re suggesting going to some place away from your current spot (e.g., a classroom upstairs further away), you say:
- 我们走楼梯上去吧。 – “Let’s go up (there) by the stairs.”
- If you’re upstairs and calling someone who is downstairs to come up to where you are, you’d say:
- 你走楼梯上来吧。 – “Come up by the stairs.”
So 我们走楼梯上来吧 sounds like you and the listener are in different places and you’re inviting them to come up to your location.
Both patterns are possible in Chinese; they just highlight slightly different things.
Verb + object + directional complement
- 走楼梯上去
- Verb: 走
- Object: 楼梯
- Directional complement: 上去
Meaning focus: take the stairs as the method to go up.
Verb + directional + object
- 走上楼梯
- Verb: 走
- Directional: 上
- Object: 楼梯
Meaning focus: “step onto the stairs” (you’re going onto the stairs themselves).
In daily speech, 走楼梯上去 is natural when you mean “go up by the stairs (instead of the elevator).”
走上楼梯 sounds more like describing the physical action of stepping onto the stairway.
In 我们走楼梯上去吧, 楼梯 is the object of 走.
- Structure: 走 + 楼梯 + 上去
- 走楼梯 = “take the stairs”
- 上去 = directional complement telling you that this “taking the stairs” movement is upward/away.
So grammatically:
- 走 = main verb
- 楼梯 = object
- 上去 = directional complement modifying the verb phrase 走楼梯.
Yes. In Chinese, the subject is often omitted when it’s obvious from context.
- 走楼梯上去吧。 is completely natural in conversation.
- It would still be understood as “Let’s go up the stairs.” or “Go up the stairs.”
The exact nuance (inclusive “let’s” vs instruction) depends on context and tone.
Using 我们 makes it explicit that you’re including yourself and the group: “We (all) go up by the stairs.”
You can change the sentence, but the nuances differ:
我们上去吧。
- Correct, but more general: “Let’s go up.”
- No mention of the stairs.
我们走上去吧。
- Also fine: “Let’s walk up (there).”
- Implies walking, but doesn’t explicitly mention stairs.
我们上楼梯吧。
- Grammatically okay: “Let’s go up onto the stairs.”
- Often used when you’re emphasizing the action of getting onto the stairs/picking that route, but it sounds less standard than 走楼梯上去 when the point is “let’s take the stairs (instead of elevator).”
我们楼梯上去吧。
- Feels incomplete/unnatural without 走 or another verb.
- You generally need a verb before 楼梯: 走楼梯上去, 从楼梯上去, etc.
So 我们走楼梯上去吧 is a clear, idiomatic way to say “Let’s go up using the stairs.”
Yes, 走楼梯 is a common, natural expression.
- 走楼梯 ≈ “take the stairs / use the stairs”
as opposed to, for example:- 坐电梯 – “take the elevator”
- 坐扶梯 / 坐电动扶梯 – “take the escalator”
So 我们走楼梯上去吧 is essentially “Let’s take the stairs (to go up).”
These words refer to different things:
- 楼 – building / floor
- e.g. 三楼 = “3rd floor”
- 楼上 – upstairs / the upper floor
- location word: “upstairs”
- 楼梯 – stairs / staircase
In your sentence, you want to talk about the stairs (the structure), so 楼梯 is the right word.
- 我们走楼上去吧 is not natural:
- 楼上 already includes “上 (up)”, and combining it directly with 上去 like that is wrong in this position.
- To mean “Let’s go upstairs,” you’d say:
- 我们上楼去吧。 or
- 我们到楼上去吧。
To keep the idea of using the stairs, stay with 走楼梯上去.
In this sentence, 吧 is pronounced with a neutral tone.
- Written tone mark is usually not given: just ba.
- In natural speech, 吧 as a final particle is almost always neutral tone, short and light.
Only in some rare non‑particle uses (like as part of another word or name) would ba have a full tone. Here, as a sentence‑final particle, treat it as neutral.