打篮球
to play basketball
dǎ lánqiú
What does 打篮球 mean?
打篮球 (dǎ lánqiú) means 'to play basketball' — literally 'hit basketball,' built from the verb 打 (dǎ, 'hit / play') plus 篮球 (lánqiú, 'basketball'). Chinese uses different verbs for different sports based on what your hand or foot does: ball sports played mainly with the hands take 打 (打篮球, 打乒乓球, 打网球), while sports played with the feet take 踢 (踢足球). For sports where you ride or operate something — bicycle, ski — 骑 or 滑 are used instead. So a learner cannot just memorize one all-purpose verb 'to play.' On its own, 打篮球 covers both casual pickup games and organized matches; for 'watch a basketball game,' switch to 看篮球比赛 (kàn lánqiú bǐsài).
Character breakdown
to hit; to play (hand-based sports)
basket
ball
Memory hook: 篮 (basket) + 球 (ball) = basketball; you 打 (hit) the ball with your hands.
Example sentences
我每个星期六都去打篮球。
Wǒ měi ge xīngqīliù dōu qù dǎ lánqiú.
I go play basketball every Saturday.
neutral
你会打篮球吗？
Nǐ huì dǎ lánqiú ma?
Do you know how to play basketball?
spoken
我哥哥很喜欢打篮球。
Wǒ gēge hěn xǐhuan dǎ lánqiú.
My older brother loves playing basketball.
spoken
下午我们一起去打篮球，好吗？
Xiàwǔ wǒmen yìqǐ qù dǎ lánqiú, hǎo ma?
Let's go play basketball together this afternoon, okay?
spoken
Common phrases with 打篮球
Synonyms
Generic 'play ball' — could mean basketball, ping-pong, tennis, etc. Use 打球 when context already makes the sport clear; use 打篮球 to specify basketball.
Don't confuse 打篮球 with
踢足球 ('play soccer') uses 踢 (kick), not 打, because soccer is played with the feet. Saying 打足球 sounds wrong to native ears.
打乒乓球 ('play ping-pong') uses the same 打 verb because ping-pong is hand-based. Just swap the ball type.