# 往火车站开去 / 开往火车站



## L3P

大家好：
I wonder if there`s any difference in meaning between 他骑上摩托车就往火车站开去 and 他骑上摩托车就开往火车站?
多谢。


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## Mamanunique

They have the same meaning ,but the second one is unusual.


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## ElGarcia

In such circumstances, “去” indicates:

1) an *outbound* movement as compared to the speaker's position (走，跑，开，驶，etc.). It gives a sense that you're watching the subject walking/running/driving away.
    Compare: 他往门口走去 vs 他往这边走来       河水向东流去 (facing the east) vs 河水滚滚而来 (facing the west)
      (The second expression 开往火车站 is more neutral. The speaker/listener could be at the origin, the destination, or more often somewhere else. So a neutral statement would be 这趟列车开往北京, while in a specific situation where people on the platform wave their loved ones goodbye it could be 人们目送着列车往北京开去。)

2) the description/observation of the said movement is over. It serves as an indicator of the end of a sentence in a similar way as "了” (although "了" often suggests a perfect tense, while the movement followed by "去" is still ongoing).
E.g. 他往火车站开了 (emphasizing the choice of direction/destination that has been made) vs. 他往火车站开去 (emphasizing the movement that is continuing)
In contrast, "开往火车站" can be used in the middle of a sentence. Example: 他在开往火车站的路上出了车祸。

The distinctions are not so clear-cut, but there are some nuances in meaning.


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## SuperXW

To supplement the last two answers:

往火车站开去
More common order in Chinese:
Adjunct + action
Emphasis on the action

开往火车站
Less common order in Chinese:
Action + adjunct
Emphasis on the adjunct

Generally, the last part in Chinese texts is the important part.


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## Mamanunique

开往 is usually used when you refer to public transportation.


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## bsbaby

往火车站开去 = 开往火车站

But I have to say, both expressions sound unusual,
similar to English, in many sentences we use one verb only for simplicity.
So your sentence should be rewritten into
他骑着摩托去了火车站。(骑着 - adverb to verb "去") slightly emphasizing "he is riding a motorbike"
or, to indicate instant actions
他二话不说骑着摩托就去了火车站。


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## SuperXW

bsbaby said:


> But I have to say, both expressions sound unusual,
> similar to English, in many sentences we use one verb only for simplicity.
> So your sentence should be rewritten into
> 他骑着摩托去了火车站。(骑着 - adverb to verb "去") slightly emphasizing "he is riding a motorbike"
> or, to indicate instant actions
> 他二话不说骑着摩托就去了火车站。


You are defining "unusual" as "not-so-colloquial", I think.


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## bsbaby

SuperXW said:


> You are defining "unusual" as "not-so-colloquial", I think.


haha, I was actually thinking: ”骑摩托去" is more common than "开摩托去“, and also
the original sentences "骑上摩托 开....";  骑 and 开 have the same meaning here, so only one is enough.
For example, we dont say： 我骑摩托车开往火车站。 it sound really redundant to me.


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## L3P

Thanks ever so much,everyone,for the breakdown.It`s really invaluable.


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## L3P

Thanks,ElGarcia. I would appreciate it if you could clear things out for me a little...



ElGarcia said:


> ...a specific situation where people on the platform wave their loved ones goodbye it could be 人们目送着列车往北京开去。)



Seems like there`s a conjunction omitted in the sentence,but I`m not sure which one.

Is it:

1.人们目送着列车*■*往北京开去 'People watched the train which was heading out for Beijing' or
2.人们目送着*■*列车往北京开去 'People watched how the train was heading out for Beijing'?



ElGarcia said:


> 他在开往火车站的路上出了车祸。



Am I right interpreting it as 'On his way to the railway station he avoided a car crash'?

Thanks again.


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## SuperXW

L3P said:


> Seems like there`s a conjunction omitted in the sentence,but I`m not sure which one.
> Is it:
> 1.人们目送着列车*■*往北京开去 'People watched the train which was heading out for Beijing' or
> 2.人们目送着*■*列车往北京开去 'People watched how the train was heading out for Beijing'?


Usually we don't care so much for this sentence, as no matter which one is your understanding, people are in fact *watching the train heading out*.
If you have to make it clear, #2 would be your answer.

For #1, the English interpretation is not accurate, because "the train which was heading out for Beijing" would be translated as 往北京开去的列车.
Also, if you put a comma there, i.e., 人们目送着列车，往北京开去 the structure would deliever a wrong message as if "people are watching the train, while driving to Beijing."


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## bsbaby

L3P said:


> Am I right interpreting it as 'On his way to the railway station he avoided a car crash'?


他在开往火车站的路上出了车祸。In fact this means he had an accident on his way to the rail station.


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## Mamanunique

人们目送着列车往北京开去    they saw the Beijing-bound train off.
他在开往火车站的路上出了车祸   He met with a car accident.


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## L3P

Thanks a lot,again!

Now I`m pretty sure about what`s going to kill me in learning Chinese,it`s conjunctionless sentences:


bsbaby said:


> 他在开往火车站的路上出了车祸。In fact this means he had an accident on his way to the rail station.



As I take it it`s 他在开往火车站的路上出了车祸 = 他在开往火车站的路上的时候出了车祸 'when he was on his way... an accident happend',right?


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## SuperXW

^We don't need a "when" here. To us, 在...的路上 clearly means "on his way to...". It is locative, not a time.
他[在开往火车站的路上]出了车祸.
He had an accident [on his way driving to the train station].
The problem is where did you get the word "avoid"?


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## M Mira

SuperXW said:


> The problem is where did you get the word "avoid"?


Perhaps 出? 「出+(accident)」 meaning "(accident) occured" is not an obvious usage and OP might have gotten it wrong.


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## L3P

Yes,I got it wrong then.我明白了，多谢。


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## ElGarcia

I see all confusion cleared already! Indeed conjunctions can often be omitted in Chinese. And I agree that 开往…… is not that common when referring to motorcyclists, but not impossible either.


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