打井 (dǎ jǐng) — to dig a well; to drill a well

Definition

Separable verb meaning 'to dig/drill a well' — a fixed activity, not something you swap objects on. Insert 一口 +井 between 打 and the rest: 打了一口井.

verb

to dig a wellto drill a well

打井。
Tā men zài cūn hòu dǎ jǐng.
They are digging a well behind the village.
。
Qù nián zhè lǐ dǎ le yì kǒu shēn jǐng.
Last year they drilled a deep well here.
打井。
dǎ jǐng Xū yào zhuān yè shè bèi.
Drilling a well requires professional equipment.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

打dǎstrike/make

打 means strike or make, and 井 is a well; together they mean to dig or drill a well.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

扌丁打

Meaning part形符xíngfú

扌Written in full as手shǒuhand

Sound part声符shēngfú

丁

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

打 uses 扌, a hand, to show an action done with the hand, and 丁 to give the sound.

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape of 井 draws a square well with supports on four sides.