받다
bat-da
받다: you catch whatever is thrown your way
The picture A ball thrown from over there, caught in both your hands. Whatever the ball is, it lands in your arms. 받다 is what crosses from their side into your arms; 주다 is what crosses from your side to theirs.
Where the picture shows up in 받다
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pick up what's ringing
전화 좀 받아 줘.
jeon-hwa jom ba-da jwo
Can you get the phone?
You pick up the phone that is buzzing and ringing on the table and bring it to your ear
The caller uses 전화를 걸다, the one answering uses 전화를 받다.
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an object lands in your arms
어제 택배 받았어요.
eo-je taek-bae ba-da-sseo-yo
My parcel arrived yesterday.
You bend down at the door, scoop the box up with both arms, and hold it against your chest
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unpleasant things land too
요즘 스트레스를 많이 받아요.
yo-jeum seu-teu-re-seu-reul ma-ni ba-da-yo
I've been under a lot of stress lately.
Small stones keep flying in from every direction and thudding into your chest
Korean says you 'receive' stress. 스트레스를 받다 is far more common than 스트레스가 있다.
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you take it in
여기 카드 받으세요?
yeo-gi ka-deu ba-deu-se-yo
Do you take cards here?
You hold a card out over the counter and the clerk reaches across and takes it
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your body takes it
내일 건강검진 받으러 가요.
nae-il geon-gang-geom-jin ba-deu-reo ga-yo
I'm going for a check-up tomorrow.
You lie on the bed while the machine lowers slowly over your body, and you simply take it
Check-ups, surgery and treatment are 받다 — done to you, not by you.
All of it in one picture
받다 is the picture of something thrown from over there landing in your arms. Let the thrown thing be a ringing phone and you answer it; let it be a box and the parcel arrives; let it be stones and it becomes the stress you are under. Let a card fly over and the shop takes it; let a scanner come down and your own body takes it. So 받다 always leaves the sense that this is not something you do but something that reaches you.