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HSK 4

打印

to print (out)

verbneutral
3rd tone
yìn4th tone

HSK level

1
2
3
4
5
6
Pinyin
dǎyìn
Part of speech
verb
Level
HSK 4
Strokes
10
Register
neutral

Stroke order for 打印

打印 is written with 10 strokes (: 5, : 5). The animation replays automatically.

What does 打印 mean?

打印 (dǎyìn) is a verb meaning 'to print' with a printer — to produce a paper copy of a digital document, photo, or file.

It is neutral, everyday office and school vocabulary: 打印文件 (print a document), 打印一份 (print a copy). The related noun is 打印机 (dǎyìnjī, 'printer'). English speakers should note the distinction from 印刷 (yìnshuā), which is 'printing' in the industrial/publishing sense — books, newspapers, mass runs on a press.

打印 is personal, on-demand output from a desktop or office printer. Historically meant to stamp with a seal, so 打印 originally meant 'to affix a stamp,' but in modern usage it overwhelmingly means printing from a computer. It is transitive: you 打印 a document.

Character by character

to do; to make (light action verb)
+
yìnto print; to stamp; a seal or imprint
=
打印

Memory hook: 打 (do) + 印 (imprint) = 'make an imprint' → print it out.

Example sentences

请帮我打印这份文件。

Qǐng bāng wǒ dǎyìn zhè fèn wénjiàn.

Please help me print this document.

neutral

打印机没纸了。

Dǎyìnjī méi zhǐ le.

The printer is out of paper.

spoken

我把机票打印出来了。

Wǒ bǎ jīpiào dǎyìn chūlái le.

I printed out the plane tickets.

neutral

这份报告需要彩色打印。

Zhè fèn bàogào xūyào cǎisè dǎyìn.

This report needs to be printed in color.

written

Common phrases with 打印

打印文件dǎyìn wénjiànprint a document
打印机dǎyìnjīprinter
打印一份dǎyìn yí fènprint one copy
彩色打印cǎisè dǎyìncolor printing

Synonyms

印刷yìnshuā

印刷 is industrial printing — books, magazines, flyers produced in bulk on a press. 打印 is small-scale, on-demand output from a home or office printer. Use 打印 for your homework, 印刷 for a published book.

alone can informally mean 'print out' in some spoken contexts (打一份出来), but it is ambiguous. 打印 is unambiguous and standard for printing.

Don't confuse 打印 with

复印fùyìn

复印 means 'to photocopy' — duplicate an existing paper original on a copier. 打印 means to print a digital file onto fresh paper. Different machines, different action.

打字dǎzì

打字 means 'to type' (enter text on a keyboard). 打印 means to send the finished document to a printer. You 打字 first, then 打印.

FAQ

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