How to Write 打 (dá/dǎ) — Meaning “to hit; to play; to call; to do”

Picture your hand (扌) holding a hammer and hitting a nail (丁) — that action is "dǎ" (to hit). This visual of hand plus nail helps you link the shape to the meaning of hitting or striking.

Write the left side 扌 first: horizontal stroke, then vertical hook, then lift. Then write the right side 丁: horizontal, then vertical hook. A common mistake is making the right side's vertical hook too curved or forgetting the little hook on the left side. Keep both sides balanced and the strokes clean.

打 has the hand radical 扌 on the left, while 才 (cái, meaning talent or just) is a single character with a slanted stroke from top right to bottom left. Visually, 打 is wider because of the left side, and 才 is more compact. In usage, 打 is an action verb, but 才 is an adverb or noun.

打 is a very common verb used for many actions like hitting (打人), playing (打球), making phone calls (打电话), and planning (打算). In Chinese culture, you don't "make" a call, you "hit" it, which shows how flexible this character is. Learning 打 helps you express many everyday activities.

Common words containing 打 include: 打电话 (dǎ diàn huà) — to make a phone call; 打球 (dǎ qiú) — to play ball games; 打算 (dǎ suàn) — to plan; to intend.