verb. "to shoot" (weapon): difference between 射击，开枪， 击中， 射中 The verb shoot appears often in Chinese international news. But I am unclear about the different words for it.

射击 and 开枪 seem to be the firing of a gun and 击中，射中 hitting with a weapon, but could someone clarify the difference?

My dictionary says "hit with missile". Can any of these words be used for a rocket / missile attack too or are they only applicable to handguns and sporting guns?

I also wonder why the word 中 is part of these words in the context of shooting.

Thank you very much.
射击 is "shooting".
开枪 is "to pull the trigger (on a gun)".


So a shooting sport would be called 射击運動, and cover fire is called 掩護射击.


击中 means "hitting".
射中 means "hitting with a flying object".


It works with a self-propelled missile/artillery shell/arrows etc too.

The 中 is there to to contribute the meaning of a "hit" to the terms. 射 without 中 is only "shooting"; with 中 it becomes "shooting and hitting"