da3yin4(打印) means to print only. When you say wo3 yao4 da3yin4(我要打印) it’s clear from the context that you mean I want to print something, documents for example. Probably due to the fact that the English ‘to print’ can mean ‘to print using a printer’ and ‘to write’, but in Mandarin, da3yin4 only means to ‘print on the printer’, usually a document, picture etc. Unless you want to specify wo3 yao4 da3yin4 zhe4ge wen2jian4(我要打印这个文件)-I want to print this document, you won’t need to say da3yin4 wen2jian4(打印文件) every time.

Excellent lesson! With regard to 打印, does that mean either “to print documents” or “to print?” I guess my question is more whether you need to say 打印文件, or whether 打印 suffices (and 打印文件 translates into “to print documents documents”). Thanks!