上班

上班 (shàngbān) means 'to go to work' or, in continuous contexts, 'to be at work.' It is a verb-object compound: 上 ('to go up / start on') + 班 ('shift / class / work session'), literally 'mount the shift.' The 班 in 上班 refers to a work shift, not a school class — schools use 上课 (shàngkè, 'attend class') for the equivalent action. Because 班 is the object of 上, you cannot add another object directly: say 我在公司上班 ('I work at the company'), never 上班公司.

To talk about commuting, pair it with verbs of motion: 去上班 ('head to work'), 在路上 ('on the way')