开/開 kāi — to open

Meanings

1. 1

   to open

   To open a door, a book or a shop for business. Its opposite is 关 guān, to close.

   verb
2. 2

   to switch on; to drive (a vehicle)

   verb

   开 covers switching a machine on (开电视, 开电脑) and driving a vehicle yourself (开车), as against 坐 for riding in one.

Character breakdown

• 开/開

  kāi (first tone, high and level)

  to open; to turn on, to switch on; to start, to begin; to drive (a vehicle); to hold (a meeting)

  4 strokesRadical 廾

Example sentences

• 商店九点开。/商店九點開。Shāngdiàn (first tone, high and level) jiǔ (third tone, dipping) diǎn (third tone, dipping) kāi. (first tone, high and level)···

  The shop opens at nine.

• 请开电视，我想看电影。/請開電視，我想看電影。Qǐng (third tone, dipping) kāi (first tone, high and level) diànshì, (fourth tone, falling) wǒ (third tone, dipping) xiǎng (third tone, dipping) kàn (fourth tone, falling) diànyǐng. (fourth tone, falling)···

  Please switch the television on — I want to watch a film.

Similar words

Words containing 开

• 开始/開始kāishǐ (first tone, high and level)to begin, to start
• 离开/離開líkāi (second tone, rising)to leave, to depart from
• 打开/打開dǎ (third tone, dipping) kāi (first tone, high and level)to open
• 公开/公開gōng (first tone, high and level) kāi (first tone, high and level)public
• 开车/開車kāi (first tone, high and level) chē (first tone, high and level)to drive a car
• 开发/開發kāi (first tone, high and level) fā (first tone, high and level)to exploit (a resource)
• 开放/開放kāi (first tone, high and level) fàng (fourth tone, falling)to bloom
• 展开/展開zhǎn (third tone, dipping) kāi (first tone, high and level)to unfold
• 分开/分開fēn (first tone, high and level) kāi (first tone, high and level)to separate
• 开口/開口kāi (first tone, high and level) kǒu (third tone, dipping)to open one's mouth
• 改革开放/改革開放gǎi (third tone, dipping) gé (second tone, rising) kāi (first tone, high and level) fàng (fourth tone, falling)to reform and open to the outside world
• 开玩笑/開玩笑kāi (first tone, high and level) wán (second tone, rising) xiào (fourth tone, falling)to play a joke
• 召开/召開zhào (fourth tone, falling) kāi (first tone, high and level)to convene (a conference or meeting)
• 开会/開會kāi (first tone, high and level) huì (fourth tone, falling)to hold a meeting
• 开通/開通kāi (first tone, high and level) tōng (first tone, high and level)to open (a new road or railway line); to set up (a hotline); to launch (a service); to subscribe to (a members-only service)
• 开工/開工kāi (first tone, high and level) gōng (first tone, high and level)to begin work (of a factory or engineering operation)
• 拉开/拉開lā (first tone, high and level) kāi (first tone, high and level)to pull open