In Chinese is there any differentiation between the words hit, beat, punch and smack? In Chinese is there any differentiation between the words hit, beat, punch and smack? When I see references to punishing children the word 打 is always used. I have not come across a different word for smack yet. Saying you 打 children sounds very harsh to my western ear, I mean in films etc, you hear people say 打他, then some poor bloke gets a real beating. In short 打 sounds very violent to me. In English there can be a huge difference between saying 'hit a child' 'beat a child' punch a child and 'smack a child'. If you say hit, beat or punch when talking about children, it really sounds rather bad. People should not hit, beat or punch children! Smacking a child is different though, and while some people may strongly disapprove of 'smacking children' it is much better than hitting or beating them. If you hit, beat or punch someone you most likely use a close fist and beat especially carries a sense of real violence. If you smack a child you use an open flat hand, and it is not normally as hard as hitting, beating and punching. Does the Chinese language make these kind of differentiations? Is there a word that specifically means 'to smack (with an open flat hand)? In chinese how can I tell if I'm hearing about children being beaten/punched/hit and children getting smacked?Sorry it's 2am here, I meant： In chinese how can I tell if I'm hearing about children being beaten/punched/hit OR children getting smacked?