Chinese word

打仗

Pronunciation

Pinyindǎ zhàng

Meaning

  • verbfight

Example

邻国和我们开始打仗了。lín guó hé wǒ men kāi shǐ dǎ zhàng le

The neighboring country and our country started fighting.

Illustration for 打仗 (fight)

More examples

边境小规模冲突后，两军逐渐升级为正式打仗。biān jìng xiǎo guī mó chōng tū hòu liǎng jūn zhú jiàn shēng jí wèi zhèng shì dǎ zhàng

After a small-scale border conflict, the two armies gradually escalated to a full-scale war.

Core concept

The focus is on opposing forces using force against each other in a military conflict, not on one person's single blow.

Common phrases

  • 和敌人打仗hé dí rén dǎ zhàng

    fight the enemy

  • 跟邻国打仗gēn lín guó dǎ zhàng

    fight a neighboring country

  • 打仗了dǎ zhàng le

    start fighting

Similar words

开战kāi zhàn: Formally begin a war or other military hostilities.
交战jiāo zhàn: Engage in combat with another force.
作战zuò zhàn: Conduct military combat using troops and planned tactics.
参战cān zhàn: Take part in fighting in a war or armed conflict.

Definition in Chinese

用武力与对方交战，发生战争或战斗。yòng wǔ lì yǔ duì fāng jiāo zhàn fā shēng zhàn zhēng huò zhàn dòu

Word origin

打仗 (dǎzhàng, "fight") combines 打 (dǎ, "to strike") with 仗 (zhàng, "battle"), whose older weapon-related sense developed into the idea of armed combat.

Usage tips

  • English fight covers arguments and contests, but this verb normally evokes armed conflict between organized sides rather than an everyday disagreement or a single punch.

Other meanings

  • wage warverb

Opposites

  • 停火tíng huǒcease fireverb
  • 和谈hé tánhold peace talksverb

Word lists with this word