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开工 (kāi gōng) — to start work; to begin construction or production (of a factory, engineering project, etc.)

Definition

开工 means a factory or construction project begins operation — used for the kickoff of production or building, not for people starting their workday (that's 上班). 动工 is a near-synonym used more for the physical start of building.

verb
to start workto begin construction or production (of a factory, engineering project, etc.)

Examples

  • 开工。
    Xīn gōng chǎng xià ge yuè kāi gōng.
    The new factory will start production next month.
  • 。
    Zhè ge xiàng mù yǐ jīng kāi le gōng.
    This project has already started work.
  • ，。
    Yīn wèi cái liào méi dào, wǒ men kāi bù liǎo gōng.
    We can't start because the materials haven't arrived.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

开kāistart
工gōngwork

开 means to start, and 工 is work, so it means to begin work.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 開; 开 is its simplified writing.

  • 門門méndoor
  • 一一yīlatch and/or wooden pole that shuts a door
  • 廾廾gǒnga pair of hands

The traditional form 開 shows 廾, a pair of hands, and 一, a latch or pole, inside 門, a door: hands opening a latched door. The simplified 开 is a shorthand form, so its parts are not the original pieces.

Open 开 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape of 工 is a picture of a bladed tool used to plow ground or mark a border; some read it as a carpenter's square.

Open 工 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Workplace & Office

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