开

開
kāi
HSK 1
#94 most
frequent character
to open, to start, to turn on
verb

Character breakdown

Source: Make Me a Hanzi.

开 showed two hands 廾 pushing open a closed door. That gave the first meaning 'to open a door'. It grew to 'open', 'to start, to turn on', and 'to leave, move away from'.

Drawn as: two hands; closed door

开 as a component in other characters

sound8 characters
形研邢笄趼锎岍汧
picture1 character
妍
empty2 characters
刑邢

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Example Sentences

我每天早上六点开门。
wǒ měitiān zǎoshàng liù diǎn kāimén 。
I open the door every morning at six o'clock.
请你把窗户开开。
qǐng nǐ bǎ chuānghù kāi kāi 。
Please open the window.
她已经开车去上班了。
tā yǐjīng kāichē qù shàngbān le 。
She has already driven to work.

Grammar Points

HSK 5
Advanced result complements "zhu", "kai", and "chulai"

Words with similar meanings

开启kāiqǐ
to start; to initiate
More formal and often used in the context of starting a process or system.
打开dǎkāi
to turn on; to unwrap
Focuses more on the physical action of opening something, like a door or a box.

Words Starting With 开

开始kāi shǐ
to begin; beginning; to start; initial
开玩笑kāi wán xiào
to play a joke; to make fun of; to joke
开发kāi fā
exploit (a resource); open up (for development); to develop
开幕式kāi mù shì
opening ceremony
开心kāi xīn
to feel happy; to rejoice; to have a great time; to make fun of sb

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