打

dǎ

HSK 2, 7

打 — dǎ

1. (light verb) to do or carry out an action, typically one performed with the hand; combines with many objects to form set phrases: 打电话 "make a phone call", 打伞 "hold an umbrella", 打针 "get an injection", 打字 "type". Intuition: the hand radical 扌 gives 打 the sense "work it with your hand", so Chinese reaches for 打 where English would pick a different verb for each object.

   我昨天打了电话给她，约好明天见面。 wǒ zuótiān dǎ le diànhuà gěi tā yuē hǎo míngtiān jiànmiàn — I called her yesterday and arranged to meet tomorrow.

2. to hit; to strike; to beat; to fight

   那个人把窗户打破了。 nàge rén bǎ chuānghù dǎpò le — That person broke the window (by hitting it).

3. colloquial marker meaning 'from' or 'since' in certain expressions (e.g. 打那以后 'since then')

   打那以后，他就没再来过。 dǎ nà yǐhòu tā jiù méi zàilái guò — Since then, he hasn't come back.

打 — dá

1. dozen (Taiwan pron.: da3)

   我买了一打鸡蛋。 wǒ mǎi le yīdǎ jīdàn — I bought a dozen eggs.