To go by taxi

[xuechengfeng]

So I'm doing Pimsleur II right now. They are saying guess how to say I want to go by taxi, so from my prior learning, I say..

我想坐出租车去。

But they say..

我想 da3 di1 去。

What are the characters for this and is this right? I couldn't find it in my dictionaries. Is this regional or what?

[gougou]

What is the point of making you guess something completely different of the previous examples? It's like making English students guess irregular verbs...

Anyway, it is 打的. My dictionary marks it as regional, 打车 is probably a more common form. There is nothing wrong with 坐出租汽车, either.

[xuechengfeng]

I didn't mean Pimselur gave me the previous learning of 坐出租汽车, I meant through my university studies, I guessed that... sorry for the misunderstanding and thanks for the response. What is more common 打车 or 坐出租汽车

[gato]

See my previous post on it.

http://www.chinese-forums.com/showthread.php?p=81731#post81731

“打的” seems to be borrowed from HK Cantonese. I couldn't understand why people used da3di1 to refer to taking the taxi until I went to HK, where I saw lots of 的士 (taxi) signs. Taxis are called “计程车” in Taiwan.

In the mainland even though many people say "打的“ for "taking a taxi", taxis themselves are still called 出租车 (in Mandarin) as far I know and not something like “的车” or "的士“. The joys of dialects/topolects/transliterations.

[skylee]

taxi is 出租車, 計程車, 的士 or even 德士, depending on where you are. the verb can be 坐, 乘, 搭 or 乘搭. obviously you can use 打的 on the mainland but it is not really acceptable everywhere.

I have not heard of 打車. but 搭車 is among the most common words.

[gougou]

I have not heard of 打車. but 搭車 is among the most common words.

Given my long-standing feud with 四声, that must be it...

[gato]

In Beijing, at least, it's really 打的 or 打车.

See http://www.baidu.com/s?wd=%B4%F2%DC%87&cl=3

打车

[skylee]

so 打車 is used on the mainland, at least in Beijing. thanks.

[roddy]

I would have said 打车 is most common, but like gougou I'm now realised I might just have been hearing it wrong (sh)

打的 is heard now and then, but not often. Use of 的哥 to refer to taxi drivers is quite common in newspaper stories, don't think I've ever heard it used in speech.

Worth noting this 的 is pronounced di1, just in case anyone is trying to da a de.

[gougou]

Use of 的哥 to refer to taxi drivers is quite common in newspaper stories, don't think I've ever heard it used in speech.

I used it once, and was reprimanded by Chinese friends for it...

[Koneko]

I normally just call them 德士老.

[trivia_tim]

的士 is from Cantonese, where it is pronounced tak see.

打车 is what I hear most often. 坐出租车 seems more formal.

[skylee]

的士 is from Cantonese, where it is pronounced tak see.

It is pronounced "dik see" in Cantonese.

[Quest]

skylee，is 打的 used in Hong Kong? or is it always 截车，截的士? I remember watching a competition on hk tv, a contestant was asked 广州人讲嘅打的系咩意思，the contestant didn't know.

PS: for some reason, I suspect I've asked this before...

[skylee]

no it is not. we say 搭的士 or 截的士.

[Quest]

I see. So 打的 might have started in Guangzhou then..