How to Say “Clock in” in Chinese
Work and study · HSK 3
"Clock in" in Chinese is 打卡 (Dǎkǎ). 打卡 (dǎkǎ) literally means 'hit the card'; a relic from the days of physical punch cards; but today almost every Chinese office uses fingerprint scanners, face recognition, or a WeChat Work (企业微信) mini-program to dǎkǎ. The word has exploded beyond the workplace: young people now use 打卡 to mean 'check in at a trendy spot for Instagram/Xiaohongshu'; 网红打卡 (wǎnghóng dǎkǎ) means visiting a viral café or scenic spot.
Primary translation
打卡
Dǎkǎ
When to use it
打卡 (dǎkǎ) literally means 'hit the card'; a relic from the days of physical punch cards; but today almost every Chinese office uses fingerprint scanners, face recognition, or a WeChat Work (企业微信) mini-program to dǎkǎ. The word has exploded beyond the workplace: young people now use 打卡 to mean 'check in at a trendy spot for Instagram/Xiaohongshu'; 网红打卡 (wǎnghóng dǎkǎ) means visiting a viral café or scenic spot. Context tells you which meaning. The opposite, clocking out, is 下班打卡 or just 打下班卡.
Example sentences
我每天九点打卡上班。
Wǒ měitiān jiǔ diǎn dǎkǎ shàngbān.
I clock in to work at nine every day.
糟了，我忘了打卡！
Zāo le, wǒ wàng le dǎkǎ!
Damn, I forgot to clock in!
这家咖啡店是网红打卡地。
Zhè jiā kāfēi diàn shì wǎnghóng dǎkǎ dì.
This café is a viral check-in spot.