骑
to ride (bike, horse)
qí
What does 骑 mean?
骑 (qí) is the verb 'to ride' — specifically, to ride something you straddle with one leg on each side. That includes bicycles (骑自行车), motorcycles (骑摩托车), horses (骑马), scooters, and electric bikes. The key rule for English speakers: do NOT use 骑 for things you sit inside, like cars, buses, trains, planes, or boats — for those use 坐 (zuò, 'sit / take'). 'I rode the bus' is 坐公共汽车, never 骑公共汽车.
The horse radical 马 on the left of 骑 is a clue to its original meaning. Common phrases: 骑车 ('ride a bike,' shortened from 骑自行车), 骑得很快 ('rides fast'). The English word 'ride' covers all transport modes, but Chinese splits it strictly: 骑 for straddle-vehicles, 坐 for everything else.
Character breakdown
to ride astride (马 'horse' radical + 奇 phonetic)
Memory hook: The 马 (horse) radical tells you everything: 骑 is for things you sit on like a horse — bike, motorbike, horse itself.
Example sentences
我每天骑自行车上班。
Wǒ měi tiān qí zìxíngchē shàngbān.
I ride my bike to work every day.
neutral
他不会骑马。
Tā bú huì qí mǎ.
He can't ride a horse.
spoken
周末我们去公园骑车吧。
Zhōumò wǒmen qù gōngyuán qí chē ba.
Let's go biking in the park this weekend.
spoken
他骑得太快，让我害怕。
Tā qí de tài kuài, ràng wǒ hàipà.
He rides too fast — it scares me.
spoken
小心，骑车的时候不要看手机。
Xiǎoxīn, qí chē de shíhou búyào kàn shǒujī.
Be careful — don't look at your phone while riding.
neutral
Common phrases with 骑
Synonyms
驾 means 'to drive / pilot' — used for cars (驾车) and in formal compounds (驾驶 = to operate a vehicle). 骑 is only for straddle-vehicles. A driver drives 驾, a cyclist rides 骑.