打 (dǎ) is the most overworked verb in Chinese. Its dictionary meaning is "to hit / strike," but you'll use it far more often as a light verb — a nearly empty verb whose meaning is supplied by the noun after it. 打电话 is "make a phone call," 打篮球 is "play basketball," 打车 is "hail a taxi," 打扫 is "clean," 打折 is "give a discount." Trying to translate the 打 in each of these as "hit" will only confuse you. The winning strategy is to stop parsing 打 and instead memorize 打 + noun as fixed collocations, because the noun is doing all the semantic work.
Sense 1: hit / strike (the literal core)
The original meaning survives in contexts of physical impact — hitting a person, a fight breaking out, striking an object.
别打孩子，好好说。
bié dǎ háizi, hǎohǎo shuō
Don't hit the kid — talk it out. (informal) — literal 打 'strike'.
他俩为一点小事打起来了。
tā liǎ wèi yìdiǎn xiǎoshì dǎ qǐlái le
The two of them started fighting over some trivial thing. — 打起来 'break into a fight'.
Sense 2: play (ball games and games of skill)
For sports and games you engage with your hands, the verb is 打: 打篮球, 打乒乓球, 打网球, 打牌, 打麻将, 打游戏. Sports you play with your feet switch to 踢 (tī, "kick") — 踢足球. This hand/foot split is not decorative; it's the actual rule.
我们下午打篮球吧。
wǒmen xiàwǔ dǎ lánqiú ba
Let's play basketball this afternoon. — 打篮球, a hands game.
周末他喜欢在家打游戏。
zhōumò tā xǐhuan zài jiā dǎ yóuxì
On weekends he likes to play video games at home. — 打游戏 (玩游戏 also works).
Sense 3: make / do (the light-verb collocations)
This is the biggest and most useful group. Here 打 means little on its own; the noun defines the action. Note that 打电话 usually pairs with the coverb 给 to mark the person called: 给某人打电话.
我一到就给你打电话。
wǒ yí dào jiù gěi nǐ dǎ diànhuà
I'll call you the moment I arrive. — 给你打电话 'make a call TO you'.
太晚了，打个车回家吧。
tài wǎn le, dǎ ge chē huí jiā ba
It's late — let's grab a cab home. — 打车 'hail a taxi'.
妈妈正在打扫房间。
māma zhèngzài dǎsǎo fángjiān
Mom is cleaning the room. — 打扫 'clean/tidy'.
我暑假在餐厅打工。
wǒ shǔjià zài cāntīng dǎgōng
I'm working a part-time job at a restaurant over the summer. — 打工 'do wage labor'.
Sense 4: make plans, get things opened
Two more high-frequency members: 打算 (dǎsuàn) "to plan / intend," which introduces a whole verb phrase, and the resultative 打开 (dǎkāi) "open (up)."
你打算什么时候回国？
nǐ dǎsuàn shénme shíhou huí guó
When are you planning to go back home? — 打算 + clause 'intend to'.
请帮我把窗户打开。
qǐng bāng wǒ bǎ chuānghu dǎkāi
Please open the window for me. — 打开 'open'; for driving/operating, see 开.
Key collocations
| Phrase | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 打电话 | dǎ diànhuà | make a phone call |
| 打篮球 | dǎ lánqiú | play basketball |
| 打车 | dǎ chē | hail a taxi |
| 打字 | dǎ zì | type |
| 打针 | dǎ zhēn | get / give an injection |
| 打扫 | dǎsǎo | clean, sweep up |
| 打工 | dǎgōng | work a wage/part-time job |
| 打招呼 | dǎ zhāohu | greet, say hi |
| 打折 | dǎ zhé | give a discount |
| 打算 | dǎsuàn | plan, intend to |
| 打开 | dǎkāi | open (up) |
见到老师要主动打招呼。
jiàndào lǎoshī yào zhǔdòng dǎ zhāohu
When you see a teacher, greet them first. — 打招呼 'say hello'.
Grammar notes
打 takes 了, 过, and resultative/directional complements freely (打完 "finish hitting/playing," 打破 "break," 打倒 "knock down"). One idiom worth flagging: 打折 is counted from the price you pay, so 打八折 means you pay 80% — i.e. 20% off, not 8% off. The smaller the number, the deeper the discount (打五折 = half price). For the neighbouring verbs, compare 玩 (play, for toys, video games, and having fun) and 开 (open / operate / drive); a fuller treatment of 打 as a light verb is on the 打 as a light verb page.
Common Mistakes
1. Guessing a "logical" verb instead of the fixed 打-collocation. Ball games with the hands are 打, full stop.
❌ 我喜欢玩篮球。
Nonstandard — basketball takes 打: 打篮球. (玩游戏 / 打游戏 both work, but ball sports are 打.)
✅ 我喜欢打篮球。
wǒ xǐhuan dǎ lánqiú
I like playing basketball.
2. Building "make a phone call" out of 做 or 制作. The set verb is 打.
❌ 我要做一个电话。
Incorrect — 'make a call' is 打电话, never 做电话.
✅ 我要打个电话。
wǒ yào dǎ ge diànhuà
I need to make a phone call.
3. Building the discount from the amount saved. The number in 打X折 is what you pay, so "20% off" is 打八折 (pay 80%), not *打二十折.
❌ 这件大衣打二十折。
Incorrect — you can't 'pay 200%'. '20% off' = pay 80% = 打八折.
✅ 这件大衣打八折。
zhè jiàn dàyī dǎ bā zhé
This coat is 20% off (you pay 80%).
4. Using 打 for football/soccer. Foot sports switch to 踢.
❌ 他们在打足球。
Incorrect — soccer is kicked: 踢足球.
✅ 他们在踢足球。
tāmen zài tī zúqiú
They're playing soccer.
Key Takeaways
- Don't translate 打 as "hit" every time — learn 打 + noun as fixed collocations; the noun carries the meaning.
- Core groups: literal hit (打人, 打架), play hands-games (打篮球, 打牌), and the light verb (打电话, 打车, 打扫, 打工, 打折, 打招呼).
- 打电话 takes the coverb 给 to name the person: 给你打电话.
- Hands → 打, feet → 踢 (打篮球 but 踢足球).
- 打八折 = pay 80% = 20% off; smaller number, bigger discount.
Now practice Chinese
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Chinese →Related Topics
- 玩 (wán) — play / have fun (and 逛 guàng stroll)HSK 2 — 玩 (wán, often 玩儿 wánr) is 'play' in the sense of enjoy yourself, hang out, or visit somewhere for fun — 出去玩, 玩游戏, 去北京玩. It is NOT the English 'play' of instruments (弹钢琴) or ball sports (打篮球, 踢足球). Its neighbour 逛 (guàng) means stroll or browse shops.
- 开 (kāi) — open / drive / turn on / startHSK 1 — 开 (kāi) opens things (开门), switches devices on (开灯, 开空调), operates vehicles (开车, 开飞机), starts events (开会, 开始), and even makes flowers bloom (花开了). Its opposite for doors and appliances is 关 (guān), and as a complement it means 'apart / open' (打开, 分开).
- 给 (gěi) — to give / for / toHSK 2 — 给 (gěi) is one word for three English ones. As a verb it takes two objects — 给我一本书 (give me a book). As a coverb it means 'to / for' before the verb — 给你打电话 (call you). As a complement it marks transfer — 交给老师 (hand in to the teacher).