Learn Hardcore Chinese: wǒmen zǒu lóutī shàng shí lóu ba. - Let’s walk up the stairs to the tenth floor.

Here 走楼梯 is a set phrase meaning “take the stairs (on foot)”, in contrast with 坐电梯 (take the elevator). It’s not the very general “go (by any means)”; it specifically implies moving by walking.

What exactly does 楼梯 (lóutī) add? Could we just say 我们上十楼吧?

楼梯 means “stairs / staircase”, and it tells you how you’re going up.

我们上十楼吧。 = Let’s go up to the 10th floor. (no information about how)
我们走楼梯上十楼吧。 = Let’s go up to the 10th floor by the stairs.

So 楼梯 is the path or means of movement, similar to “by the stairs” in English. Without 楼梯, the sentence is still fine; it just doesn’t contrast with taking the elevator.

What does 上 (shàng) do here? Is it like “up” or “to”?

Here 上 is a directional complement meaning “up(ward)” / “go up”.

Structure:

走　楼梯　上　十楼
walk + stairs + up + 10th floor

So 上十楼 means “go up to the 10th floor”.
Without 上, 走楼梯十楼 would be ungrammatical; the verb needs a direction or result when you’re talking about going to a higher floor.

You can think of:

走上十楼 = walk up to the 10th floor
走楼梯上十楼 = walk (using the stairs) up to the 10th floor

Why is the word order 走楼梯上十楼 and not something like 上十楼走楼梯?

Chinese tends to order motion like this:

Subject + Verb (motion) + Means/Path + Direction + Destination

Here:

我们 – we
走 – walk
楼梯 – (by) the stairs
上 – up
十楼 – 10th floor

So: 我们＋走＋楼梯＋上＋十楼

Alternative such as 上十楼走楼梯 sounds wrong because it breaks that logic: it would be like saying “up to the 10th floor walk the stairs”, which doesn’t scan naturally in Chinese.

A more flexible but still natural variant is:

我们从楼梯走上十楼吧。
We’ll walk up to the 10th floor from the stairs.

Could I say 走楼梯到十楼 instead of 走楼梯上十楼? What’s the difference between 上 and 到 here?

You can say:

我们走楼梯到十楼吧。

This is grammatical and understandable.

Nuance:

上 – emphasizes upward movement (going up).
到 – emphasizes arrival / reaching a destination (“to / until”).

In context of floors, 上十楼 is more natural because going to a higher floor is inherently “going up”, so 上 feels very intuitive. 到十楼 is fine, but slightly more neutral, focusing on ending up on the 10th floor rather than the “upward” idea.

Could I say 上到十楼 or 上十楼去? How do these compare to 上十楼?

All of these are possible, with subtle differences:

上十楼
- Most common and neutral here.
- Focus: up to the 10th floor.
上到十楼
- Emphasizes reaching / getting all the way to the 10th floor.
- Slight extra focus on the result / completion.
上十楼去
- The 去 adds a sense of “away from here, toward there”.
- Common in spoken Chinese:
  我们走楼梯上十楼去吧。 – Let’s go (over there) up to the 10th floor by the stairs.

In everyday speech, 上十楼 (without 到 or 去) is already completely natural.

Why is there no measure word or 第 before 十楼? Shouldn’t it be 第十层楼?

For floors inside a building, Chinese very often uses “number + 楼” directly:

二楼 – 2nd floor
三楼 – 3rd floor
十楼 – 10th floor

This already has an ordinal sense built in (“the 10th floor”), so 第 is not necessary.

You can say:

第十层楼 – literally “the 10th floor (layer) of the building”

This is also correct, but in everyday speech people usually just say 十楼, 三楼, etc. It’s short and natural.

So:

我们走楼梯上十楼吧。 – most idiomatic in conversation
我们走楼梯上第十层楼吧。 – correct, slightly more formal / wordy

What’s the difference between 楼 (lóu) and 层 (céng)?

Roughly:

楼
- building: 这栋楼 – this building
- floor (as in “3rd floor”): 三楼, 十楼
层
- layer / level / storey: 十层 – ten storeys
- often used in counting floors:
  这栋楼有十层。 – This building has ten floors.

Typical patterns:

我住在三楼。 – I live on the 3rd floor.
这栋楼有十层。 – This building has 10 storeys.
他在第十层工作。 – He works on the 10th floor. (more formal)

In your sentence, 十楼 is the most natural choice.

Why isn’t there any word for “the” in 楼梯 or 十楼? Where did “the” go?

Mandarin doesn’t have articles like “the” or “a/an”. Whether something is specific or general is decided by context, not by a separate word.

楼梯 here is understood as “the stairs (of this building that we’re dealing with)”.
十楼 is understood as “the 10th floor (of this building)”.

If you need to be clearer, you use other tools:

那边的楼梯 – the stairs over there
这栋楼的十楼 – the 10th floor of this building

But you never add a direct equivalent of English “the”.

What does the sentence-final particle 吧 (ba) do here?

吧 at the end turns the sentence into a polite suggestion / proposal:

我们走楼梯上十楼吧。
⇒ Let’s take the stairs up to the 10th floor. (soft suggestion)

Contrast:

我们走楼梯上十楼。
⇒ Sounds like a statement or instruction: “We’re (going to) take the stairs up to the 10th floor.”
我们走楼梯上十楼吗？
⇒ A yes/no question: “Are we taking the stairs up to the 10th floor?”

So 吧 is key to getting the “let’s …” feel in English.

What’s the difference between with and without 吧 here?

With 吧: 我们走楼梯上十楼吧。
- Suggestion, soft, inclusive: “Let’s…” / “How about we…”
- You are inviting others to agree.
Without 吧: 我们走楼梯上十楼。
- Factual statement or firm decision: “We will take the stairs up to the 10th floor.”
- Could sound like you’re informing someone of the plan or telling them what will happen.

So 吧 makes the tone less bossy and more cooperative.

Is 我们 (wǒmen) necessary, or can I just say 走楼梯上十楼吧?

You can drop 我们:

走楼梯上十楼吧。

This still sounds like a suggestion including the listener (and usually the speaker). In context it will usually be understood as “Let’s take the stairs up to the 10th floor.”

However:

我们 explicitly shows “we (including you and me)”, which lines up nicely with English “let’s”.
Without 我们, it can sound slightly more like an instruction to the group, depending on tone and context.

Both are common; 我们…吧 is especially clear for learners.

Why 走楼梯 and not 爬楼梯? What’s the difference between 走 and 爬 here?

Both exist:

走楼梯 – literally “walk the stairs”, i.e. take the stairs (instead of elevator).
爬楼梯 – literally “climb the stairs”, emphasizing effort / climbing.

Nuance:

Everyday contrast with elevator:
- 坐电梯 vs 走楼梯 is very common.
Talking about exercise, effort, or a lot of floors:
- 每天爬楼梯对身体很好。 – Climbing the stairs every day is good for your health.

In your sentence, 走楼梯 fits well because the focus is simply choice of stairs vs elevator, not necessarily the effort.

How would I say “Let’s take the elevator up to the 10th floor” using the same pattern?

Just switch 走楼梯 to 坐电梯:

我们坐电梯上十楼吧。
- 坐电梯 – take the elevator
- Exactly parallel to 我们走楼梯上十楼吧。

Both sentences share the same structure:

我们＋ [means] ＋上＋十楼＋吧
- 坐电梯 – by elevator
- 走楼梯 – by stairs

How would I say “Let’s go down to the 2nd floor by the stairs” using a similar structure?

Replace 上 (up) with 下 (down) and 十楼 with 二楼:

我们走楼梯下二楼吧。
- 走楼梯 – take the stairs
- 下二楼 – go down to the 2nd floor
- 吧 – makes it a suggestion

So the general pattern is:

我们 + 走楼梯 + 上/下 + [floor] + 吧
- 上 – up
- 下 – down