Meaning of 打
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- to hit; to strike
- to fight
- (in many expressions) a semantically light transitive verb used with various objects to form expressions with a wide range of meanings, e.g. 打傘|打伞[da3 san3] "to hold an umbrella", 打電話|打电话[da3 dian4 hua4] "to make a phone call", 打針|打针[da3 zhen1] "to get an injection"
- (coll.) from; since
- (loanword) dozen
- Taiwan pr. [da3]
How to use 打
Beyond hitting, 打 works as a light, all-purpose verb whose meaning comes from its object: 打电话 (dǎ diànhuà) to make a call, 打车 (dǎchē) to take a taxi, 打球 (dǎ qiú) to play ball. Example: 我晚上给你打电话。(Wǒ wǎnshang gěi nǐ dǎ diànhuà.) I will call you tonight.
打 is made of the hand radical 扌 on the left and 丁 (dīng) on the right. Picture a hand swinging down to hit something, which gives the core meaning "to hit."
Common mistake: Learners often write the right side as 了 or 子 instead of 丁, which has a flat top stroke and a hook. Another trap is translating "play" literally: you say 打篮球 (dǎ lánqiú) for basketball but 踢足球 (tī zúqiú) for soccer, because soccer is kicked, not hit.
打 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
打 dǎ · to hit · 5 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
Related words
Words that share a character with 打.
| 打电话 | dǎ diànhuà | to make a telephone call |
| 打开 | dǎkāi | to open; to show (a ticket) |
| 打球 | dǎ qiú | to play a ball sport |
| 打车 | dǎchē | to take a taxi (in town); to hitch a lift |
| 打算 | dǎsuàn | to plan; to intend |
| 打工 | dǎgōng | to work a temporary or casual job; (of students) to have a job outside of class time, or d |
| 打印 | dǎyìn | to affix a seal; to stamp |
| 打破 | dǎpò | to break; to smash |
| 打听 | dǎting | to ask about; to make some inquiries |
| 打败 | dǎbài | to defeat; to overpower |
| 打扫 | dǎsǎo | to clean; to sweep |
| 打针 | dǎzhēn | to give or get an injection |
Questions about 打
What does 打 mean?
打 (dǎ) means "to hit; to strike; to fight" and is used as a verb, measure word and preposition.
How do you write 打?
打 is made of 1 character: 打 (5 strokes). That is 5 strokes in total.
Is 打 an HSK word?
Yes. 打 is on the HSK 1 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
Does 打 always mean violence?
No. In most everyday phrases it has no sense of hitting at all, as in 打算 (dǎsuàn) to plan or 打工 (dǎgōng) to work a part-time job. Only context like 打人 (dǎ rén) to hit someone carries the violent meaning.
How is 打 used to mean "from" or "dozen"?
In colloquial speech 打 can mean "from" or "since," as in 打这儿走 (dǎ zhèr zǒu) go from here. Read as dá, it is a loanword for "dozen," as in 一打鸡蛋 (yì dá jīdàn) a dozen eggs, though in Taiwan it is often still pronounced dǎ.