To Strike
To Tap, To Hit, To Knock, To Beat
transitive verb, godan verb
This word consists of kanji with hiragana attached. Because the hiragana ends with an う sound, you know this word is a verb. The kanji itself means tap or strike, and the verb version is to strike, to tap, to hit, to knock, or to beat.
This verb can be used for both things and people, and the English translation will change depending on what it is you're striking. You'll always have some kind of object, though, since this is a transitive verb. So you might tap someone on the shoulder, knock at a door, or beat a drum.
Since this word consists of a kanji with hiragana attached, you can bet that it will use the kun'yomi reading. You haven't learned this reading yet, so here's a mnemonic to help you:
When you're going to strike something over and over it makes a ta-ta (たた) sound. Imagine you're about to beat a steel drum, for example. Now listen... たた! There! Did you hear it?
彼はドラムを叩くのが上手い。
He plays the drums well.
開ける前に、ドアを叩いてって言ったよね！？
I told you to knock on the door before opening it, didn't I?!
日本のマンザイは、人の頭を叩いてツッコムのであまり好きではありません。人のことを叩いちゃいけないって学校で習わなかったのかな？
I'm not particularly fond of Japanese manzai comedy, where they hit people on the head to deliver punchlines. Wasn't it taught in school that you shouldn't hit others?