Struggling with the Chinese character 打 (dǎ)? It can mean "hit," "play," "call," "make," and so much more. It seems random, but it's not! In this video, I'm not just giving you a list of meanings—I'm giving you a powerful mental model to understand and guess the meanings of 打 (and other polysemous characters) like a native speaker. 🧠 What You'll Learn in This Video (5:45): • The ONE core image that is the key to all meanings of 打. • The 4 logical pathways of meaning expansion (from physical to abstract). • My simple "Detective Kit" questions to guess new 打 phrases you've never seen. • How to finally stop memorizing and start understanding the logic of Chinese vocabulary. 📚 Resources & Links: • Support this channel on Ko-fi and help me create more free lessons: • Check out my channel for more videos on mastering Chinese grammar and vocabulary. 🕒 Timestamps: 0:00 - The Problem with 打 1:13 - The Secret: The Core Image 1:45 - Spoke 1: Literal & Physical Meanings 2:14 - Spoke 2: From "Hitting" to "Starting" 2:58 - Spoke 3: From "Starting" to "Doing/Making" 3:42 - Spoke 4: Idiomatic Expressions 4:29 - Your Superpower: The 打 Detective Kit 5:05 - Recap & Your Mission #learnchinese #chinesegrammar #commonmistakes #polysemy #chineseforbeginners #chineseteacher #speakchinese #chineselesson #mandaringrammar #chinesevocabulary #汉语教学 #mandarinchinese #中文学习