HSK 5 · Verbs

打交道 dǎjiāodào “to come into contact with” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 打交道 means

  1. to come into contact with
  2. to have dealings

How to say 打交道

  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale打dǎ3rd tone, dipping
  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale交jiāo1st tone, high and level
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale道dào4th tone, falling

打交道 in a sentence

  1. 我不喜欢跟人打交道。

    Wǒ bù xǐhuan gēn rén dǎjiāodào.

    I don’t like dealing with people.

    Sentence #4757234 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 他们俩工作上联系多，经常打交道。

    Tāmen liǎ gōngzuò shàng liánxì duō, jīngcháng dǎjiāodào.

    The two of them work closely together and deal with each other a lot.

    Sentence #3709286 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 别和这个人打交道。

    Bié hé zhè ge rén dǎjiāodào.

    Don’t have anything to do with this guy.

    Sentence #2301839 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

How 打交道 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 打 (dǎ) with each of its parts in a different colour
打dǎto hit; to strike
  • 扌hand form of 手 · shǒuMeaning part
  • 丁part of the characterSound part

Memory aidA hand 扌 striking a nail 丁: to hit. It is now used for many actions, such as 打电话 (dǎ diànhuà) “to phone”.

The character 交 (jiāo) with each of its parts in a different colour
交jiāoto hand over; to deliver; to pay
  • 六six · liù
  • 乂to govern · yì

Memory aidDrawn from a person with crossed legs: to cross, to hand over.

The character 道 (dào) with each of its parts in a different colour
道dàoroad; path 条,股)
  • 首head · shǒuSound part
  • 辶walking form of 辵 · chuòMeaning part

辶 hints at the meaning (walking); 首 (shǒu) hints at the sound. Compare it with dào.

Memory aidPicture walking 辶 with your head 首 leading the way: a road, a way.

How to write 打交道

打 5 strokes · 交 6 strokes · 道 12 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

打交道 (dǎjiāodào) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 打交道 (dǎjiāodào). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 打交道

Words with 打

打电话dǎ diànhuà · to make a phone call打dǎ · to hit打车dǎchē · to take a taxi (in town)打开dǎkāi · to open打篮球dǎlánqiú · to play basketball打扫dǎsǎo · to clean打算dǎsuàn · to plan打扮dǎban · to decorate打扰dǎrǎo · to disturb打印dǎyìn · to print (with a printer)

Words with 交

公交车gōngjiāochē · public transport vehicle交jiāo · to hand over交流jiāoliú · to exchange交通jiāotōng · traffic交往jiāowǎng · to associate with交换jiāohuàn · to exchange交际jiāojì · social interaction外交wàijiāo · diplomacy交代jiāodài · to explain交涉jiāoshè · to negotiate

Words with 道

知道zhīdao · to know (a fact)街道jiēdào · street道dào · (m.w. for orders味道wèidao · flavour道歉dàoqiàn · to apologise难道nándào · don’t tell me …报道bàodào · to report (news)地道dìdao · authentic道德dàodé · virtue频道píndào · frequency

More words: Common Verbs

存在cúnzài · to exist达到dádào · to reach代表dàibiǎo · representative代替dàitì · to replace耽误dānwu · to delay挡dǎng · to block导致dǎozhì · to lead to到达dàodá · to reach

FAQs

打交道 (dǎjiāodào) means “to come into contact with” or “to have dealings”. It is an HSK 5 word.
Say it dǎjiāodào: dǎ with a 3rd tone, then jiāo with a 1st tone, then dào with a 4th tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 打交道 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type dajiaodao with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 打交道 from the suggestions. Typing dajiaodao into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
打交道 is an HSK 5 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.