坐
zuò
Why taking the subway is 坐, the sitting word
The picture Knees fold, the body's weight settles onto one spot, and it stays with that spot. 坐 is weight resting on a seat; 站 is two legs holding the weight up.
Where the picture shows up in 坐
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weight comes down on a seat
请坐，马上就好。
qǐng zuò, mǎshàng jiù hǎo
Please have a seat, it'll just be a moment.
A clerk gestures at a chair and the visitor folds down into it
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a seat that moves
我坐地铁去公司。
wǒ zuò dìtiě qù gōngsī
I take the subway to work.
Sitting still in a subway seat while the view outside slides backward
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picking which seat
我们坐在窗边吧。
wǒmen zuò zài chuāng biān ba
Let's sit by the window.
Walking past several tables in a restaurant and dropping a bag at the window seat
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staying in the seat longer
别急，再坐一会儿。
bié jí, zài zuò yíhuìr
No rush — stay a bit longer.
A guest half-risen gets their cup refilled and settles back down
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the seat runs the wrong way
我坐反了，得换车。
wǒ zuò fǎn le, děi huàn chē
I got on the wrong way — I have to change.
Seated, eyes on the route map, realizing the station names are counting backward
All of it in one picture
坐 is one picture: your weight set down on a seat. If that seat is a waiting-room chair, it's "please sit"; if it's a seat on a moving train, it's how you get to work. Choose which seat and it becomes sitting by the window; don't get up yet and it becomes staying a little longer. Let the seat you're on run the wrong way and it becomes taking the wrong train.