To strike or hit with the hand. To hit, beat, play, make, or perform all kinds of actions. A hand (扌) pounding a nail (丁).
The left side is 扌, a compressed form of 手 (hand). The right side 丁 is a sound hint, not a meaning part. The core picture is simple: a hand doing something. Chinese stretches that one image into a huge family of actions — hit a ball, fetch water, type, make a call.
English says 'make a phone call', but Chinese uses 打, not 做.
You don't hit the computer. To open it, say 打开电脑 or 开电脑.
打 is for sports you hit or shoot; 玩 is for messing around with things.
打 keeps its 'hand strikes something' feel. Basketball, tennis, volleyball — you hit or shoot the ball, so it's 打. 玩 means 'play around with, kill time with', so it fits phones. If you say 玩篮球, natives hear 'fiddle with a basketball like a toy', not 'play the sport'.
| Dimension | Natural | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Ball sport | 打篮球 / 打网球 | 玩篮球 |
| Phone | 玩手机 | 打手机 (usually means call a cell) |
打车 is hailing a taxi; 开车 is you driving; 坐车 is just riding.
打 here is 'flag down, summon'. You 打车 when you stand on the street and wave. 开车 means you're the driver. 坐车 just means you're a passenger on any vehicle, including a bus. So 我打车去医院 = I'll grab a taxi to the hospital. 我开车去医院 = I'll drive myself.
| Dimension | Natural | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Hail a taxi | 打车 | 打一辆车 (odd unless you mean a specific car) |
| You drive | 开车 | 打车 (means you called a taxi) |
| Just ride | 坐车 | 打车 (implies taxi specifically) |
Both work, but 给他打电话 is the everyday order; 打电话给他 sounds southern and casual.
Chinese normally puts the person before the action: 给他打电话. The other order, 打电话给他, is common in Taiwan and southern China and is perfectly understood. In Beijing or Shanghai textbooks you'll mostly see 给他打电话. The real mistake is 我打电话他 — you need 给 before the person. You may also hear 我打他电话, which means 'I'll call his phone.'
| Dimension | Natural | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Standard order | 我给他打电话 | 我打电话他 |
| Southern / casual | 我打电话给他 | 我打电话他 |
| With time | 我明天给他打电话 | 我给他明天打电话 |
开 is general 'open / turn on'; 打开 stresses the result — you open it up.
开 alone is general: 开门 (open the door), 开电脑 (turn on the computer), 开电视 (turn on the TV). 打开 stresses the result of opening: 打开门 (push the door open), 打开电脑 (open up the laptop), 打开书 (open a book). If you're talking about a physical thing that goes from closed to open, 打开 is usually the safer choice.
| Dimension | Natural | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Door | 开门 / 打开门 | 开开门 (sounds babyish) |
| Computer | 打开电脑 | 打电脑 |
| Book | 打开书 | 打书 |
A young man helps an old man look for his cat. But the real surprise is why the old man wanted to find the cat. Read on to learn about kindness and friendship.
谁看见我的大白猫大白，请 打电话 给三号房间。”
我写了找猫的话，天天有人 打电话 问我‘老先生，猫找到了吗’。
This is a short dialogue about a shopping trip. A woman buys many things, including food, drinks, furniture, and pet food, while her boyfriend reminds her not to overspend.
我的男朋友 打电话 给我：“喂？
This playful poem will make you smile as you explore how Chinese words like 'computer' and 'phone' can be funnier than they seem. Get ready to enjoy simple HSK 1 vocabulary and a twist of logic!
超市非常小，电脑没脑子，电话不能 打 。
In this dialogue, two people chat while waiting outside a cinema. You'll hear common phrases for talking about hobbies, sports, and movie preferences.
Ａ：你喜欢踢足球和 打 篮球吗？
Follow a day from waking at six-thirty to coming home at eight, then leap across days, months, and years. This simple story helps you practice speaking about routines and life changes with clear time words.
前天同学 打电话 。
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