跑步(pǎo bù) - to run in Mandarin

跑步 (pǎo bù) means to run, jog, from 跑 (pǎo, to run) and 步 (bù, step, pace), the same 步 (bù) found in 散步 (sàn bù), to go for a walk. Together the compound describes running as an activity, the exercise, rather than a single burst of movement.

跑 (pǎo) alone can mean "to run" in a general or urgent sense, sprinting for a bus or running away, while 跑步 (pǎo bù) is the specific, often habitual activity: 我每天早上跑步 (wǒ měi tiān zǎo shang pǎo bù), "I run every morning", describes a routine rather than a single dash.

As with the other sport compounds in this set, 跑步 (pǎo bù) splits around 得 (de) to add detail: 他跑步跑得很快 (tā pǎo bù pǎo dé hěn kuài), "he runs very fast", repeats 跑 (pǎo) rather than placing the description after the whole two-character phrase, the same pattern seen throughout GCSE hobbies and sport vocabulary.