to make a phone call
打电话
Common Usage & Traps
- 打电话 — make a phone call; be on the phone
- 给他打电话 — give him a call (the everyday order)
- 打电话给我 — call me (给 tucked after 电话)
- 打个电话 — make a quick call
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打电话他给他打电话English lets you say 'call him' with the person right after the verb. Chinese does not: the person needs 给 in front, or 给 has to slot in after 电话 (打电话给他).
When you call someone, does the person go before or after 打电话?
Put 给 before the person: 给他打电话. 打电话他 sounds broken to natives.
Chinese treats 打电话 as one fixed chunk, so a person can't sit right after it. Instead, wrap the person in 给: 给他打电话, or put 给 after 电话: 打电话给他. Both orders are correct, and 打电话他 will sound broken to any native speaker. When you want a call back, say 给我打电话, never 打电话我.
| Dimension | Natural | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Call him | 给他打电话 / 打电话给他 | 打电话他 |
| Call me | 给我打电话 | 打电话我 |
| Where 给 sits | 给 + person + 打电话 | person stuck after 打电话 |
Is 打一个电话 wrong, and should it be 打个电话 instead?
打一个电话 is not a mistake; 打个电话 is just the relaxed everyday version.
打电话 is a fixed chunk, but you can still slip 个 or 了 in right after 打. 给他打个电话 sounds friendly and casual, like 'give him a quick ring'. 打一个电话 is not a grammar mistake; it stresses the number and sounds stiff in small talk. Adding 了 marks a finished call: 我给他打了个电话. Never glue the extra word to the end, because 打电话个 is simply broken.
| Dimension | Natural | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Quick casual call | 给他打个电话 | 给他打一个电话 (stiff) |
| Finished call | 我给他打了个电话 | 我给他打电话个 |
| Where extra words attach | 打个电话 / 打了个电话 | 打电话 + 个 at the end |
Why does calling someone use 打, the same character as 'hit'?
打 is Chinese's all-purpose action verb, so treat 打电话 as one memorized chunk.
打 literally means 'hit', and it also powers dozens of everyday action words. 打电话, 打车 and 打篮球 all use 打 as a generic 'do' or 'perform' verb. Don't translate the 打 word-for-word; treat the whole phrase as one vocabulary item. Native speakers never think about why the phone gets 'hit'.
| Dimension | Natural | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning of 打 here | 打 = do / perform | 打 = to hit |
| Real phrases | 打电话 / 打车 | hit the phone / hit the car |
Appears in Stories 3 stories
Real context sentences across different daily scenarios and graded readings.
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.
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前天同学 打电话 。
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.
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我的男朋友 打电话 给我：“喂？
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.
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谁看见我的大白猫大白，请 打电话 给三号房间。”
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我写了找猫的话，天天有人 打电话 问我‘老先生，猫找到了吗’。
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