<p>You can say "打车". Whether to use "打的" or "打车" might be only personal/regional preference.</p>

<p>Here 的 is pronounced as di1<sup>[1]</sup> , and it shorten from "的士" which means taxi.</p>

<p>Currently I can think of only a few words which uses this meaning of "的": 打的, 的士, 的哥(male taxi driver), etc。</p>

<hr>

<p>[1] My dictionary says the pronunciation is di2. While in everyday life (in Beijing), what I hear and use is di1.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-10-16T18:12:17.523Z
And the mainland China borrowed the "的士" as a translation of taxi from Hongkong, they sound more alike in Cantonese.
Archeosudoerus
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-10-16T05:55:36.487Z
2017-10-16T05:55:36.487Z
fefe
<p>打的 means 打的士, 的士 is transliteration for taxi in Cantonese.</p>

<p>In mainland, we call 打车.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-10-16T05:56:33.007Z
2017-10-16T05:56:33.007Z
sfy
<p>If I remember right, the word is borrowed from Cantonese at 80s. Then it gradually be accepted by the other areas in China. </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-10-16T05:51:03.470Z
2017-10-16T05:51:03.470Z
Axure Real
<p>的 is short for 的士, and 的士 is the translation of taxi in pronounce, which comes from Cantonese. The original should be 搭车 or 搭的士. When it comes to mainland China, 搭 changes to 打, so if you need a taxi, you just say 打的.</p>

<p>If you say 打车, we can also understand you need a taxi.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-10-16T06:00:07.863Z
2017-10-16T18:50:22.267Z
2017-10-16T18:50:22.267Z
waves
<p>When I need a taxi, I need to say “打的” instead of "打车"。  </p>

<p>So what is the meaning of "的"？How to understand "的"?</p>

<p>When can I use it?   </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-10-16T05:55:39.960Z
打的 (coll.) to take a taxi
to go by taxi, 的 dī
coll. cab，shortened from 的士，also 的哥 （＂的姐＂）taxi driver
user6065
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-10-16T05:57:09.390Z
https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/8504/loanwords-with-chinese-equivalents/19598#19598
user6065
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-10-17T02:45:15.273Z
Chinese words from Hong Kong affects mainland China, e.g., bus is translated to 客车/客車 in mainland before but 巴士 in Hong Kong, gradually the words 长途客车/長途客車 in mainland China now change to 长途大巴/長途大巴 or 长途巴士/長途巴士. We say 叫出租 or 叫出租车/叫出租車 in spoken language before, but now we say 打车/打車 or 打的 commonly.
xenophōn
<word-choice><meaning-in-context>
what's mean of "打的"？ How to understand "的"
# what's mean of "打的"？ How to understand "的"

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-10-16)

When I need a taxi, I need to say “打的” instead of "打车"。

So what is the meaning of "的"？How to understand "的"?

When can I use it?

**Tags:** word-choice, meaning-in-context

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: 打的 (coll.) to take a taxi to go by taxi, 的 dī coll. cab，shortened from 的士，also 的哥 （＂的姐＂）taxi driver  
> **username_1**: https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/8504/loanwords-with-chinese-equivalents/19598#19598  
> **username_2**: Chinese words from Hong Kong affects mainland China, e.g., bus is translated to 客车/客車 in mainland before but 巴士 in Hong Kong, gradually the words 长途客车/長途客車 in mainland China now change to 长途大巴/長途大巴 or 长途巴士/長途巴士. We say 叫出租 or 叫出租车/叫出租車 in spoken language before, but now we say 打车/打車 or 打的 commonly.  

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## 4 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2017-10-16. Score: 4 | Accepted answer

You can say "打车". Whether to use "打的" or "打车" might be only personal/regional preference.

Here 的 is pronounced as di1[1] , and it shorten from "的士" which means taxi.

Currently I can think of only a few words which uses this meaning of "的": 打的, 的士, 的哥(male taxi driver), etc。

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[1] My dictionary says the pronunciation is di2. While in everyday life (in Beijing), what I hear and use is di1.

> **Comments:**
> **username_4**: And the mainland China borrowed the "的士" as a translation of taxi from Hongkong, they sound more alike in Cantonese.  

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### Answer by username_5 on 2017-10-16. Score: 1

打的 means 打的士, 的士 is transliteration for taxi in Cantonese.

In mainland, we call 打车.


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### Answer by username_6 on 2017-10-16. Score: 1

If I remember right, the word is borrowed from Cantonese at 80s. Then it gradually be accepted by the other areas in China.


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### Answer by username_7 on 2017-10-16. Score: 1

的 is short for 的士, and 的士 is the translation of taxi in pronounce, which comes from Cantonese. The original should be 搭车 or 搭的士. When it comes to mainland China, 搭 changes to 打, so if you need a taxi, you just say 打的.

If you say 打车, we can also understand you need a taxi.


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