一趟 vs 一次、is there any difference?

Question

Under the entry 趟 my dictionary says:

1. For round trip
2. For single train trip

Does this mean, when I see this word I must assume the speaker went back and forth, except when he went by train, where I must assume a single trip?

This startles me very much, since knowledge of the means of transportation would be required, in order to correctly interpret the sentence!

Does 趟 imply that the speaker is now away from the place in question? So, does:

我去過北京兩趟。

mean I am not in Beijing? Is this a difference between 趟 and 次？

Answer 1

My English is not good. This answer translated by Google Translate.

Nowadays these two words are mixed and there is no serious mistake. But here are some explanations.

趟

趟 is generally used for round trips in a specified time. Example:

我今天去了兩趟超市。

I went to the supermarket twice today

I went and came back twice. Now I'm home.

次

次 emphasizes number of travels and your experience from the trip. Example:

我去過两次北京。

I went to Beijing twice.

I just want to tell you that I have that trip.

Answer 2

Does this mean, when I see this word I must assume the speaker went back and forth, except when he went by train, where I must assume a single trip?

Neither one is indicating a "went back and forth" situation. You can't tell that from just this one sentence.

Does 趟 imply that the speaker is now away from the place in question? So, does:

No.

The usage of 一趟 and 一次 are quite similar, 趟 is more often used for trips or travels. 次 serve a more general purpose.

Answer 3

these two words are verb modifiers. they mean the same thing when you're modifying verbs with related to travel/move/go. 趟 can be used with moving verbs or verbs that are related to moving, going, traveling only, while 次 is an universal verb modifier that can be used with any verb.

here are four examples:

我和你妈出三趟街。 (good) I go out with your mom three times. 出 is the verb.

我和你妈出三次街。 (good) I go out with your mom three times. 出 is the verb.

我和你妈吃三趟饭。 (good) I go out with your mom three times to eat. 吃 is the verb here, but 趟 modified the verb 吃 into 出去吃。

我和你妈吃三次饭。 (good) I eat mom three times. 吃 is also the verb here, but 次 here only modified the number of time 吃。吃了 three times. Note, this sentence doesn't imply going out to eat.