Basic Level 初级 (chūjí)
The correct answer for this HSK
question is B. The whole sentence translates as:
My father likes playing football very much.
Analysis:
In Chinese, when referring to ball games, people usually use the verbs “踢 (tī)” and “打 (dǎ).” People use the verb “踢 (tī)” for football, since the radical of “踢 (tī)” means to do something with one’s feet. So, “to play football” should be “踢足球 (tī zúqiú).” For other ball games, people usually use the verb “打 (dǎ)” since the radical of “打 (dǎ)” means to do something with one’s hands, such as “打篮球 (dǎ lánqiú),” “打乒乓球 (dǎ pīngpāngqiú),” “打网球 (dǎ wǎngqiú)” and so on.
I’m always confused about the word “打” in my HSK preparation. Can it be a quantifier?
Yes, it can be a quantifier. It means dozen, as in “一打鸡蛋”, or “a dozen eggs”. You also need to know the commonly used phrase “打车”, or “to take a taxi”.
Besides “打车”, “打的” is also a commonly used phrase to mean “to take a taxi”.
I’m very happy because I’ve got the correct answer.