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拓宽 (tuò kuān) — to broaden, to widen

Definition

拓宽 focuses on widening something already in place (a road, a road's capacity, or an existing scope). Use 拓展 for actively pushing outward (markets, horizons, business); 扩大 is the general 'expand/enlarge'.

verb
to broadento widen

Examples

  • 拓宽。
    Duō dú hǎo shū néng tuò kuān nǐ de shì yě.
    Reading good books can broaden your horizons.
  • 拓宽，。
    Gōng sī jì huà tuò kuān chǎn pǐn xiàn, xī yǐn gèng duō kè hù.
    The company plans to broaden its product line to attract more customers.
  • 拓宽，。
    Zhè tiáo xiǎo lù xū yào tuò kuān, cái néng ràng chē liàng tōng guò.
    This small road needs to be widened so vehicles can pass.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
补充bǔchōngVerb + complement

An action followed by its result or direction.

拓tuòexpand
宽kuānwide

拓 means expand and 宽 means wide, so together they express making something wider.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
扌Written in full as手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
石
石shí拓tuò
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

拓 uses 扌, the hand radical, on the left, and 石 on the right as a sound part.

Open 拓 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 寬; 宽 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
宀宀miánhouse
Sound part声符shēngfú
萈
萈huán寬kuān
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 寬 pairs 宀, a house, with 萈, a goat used for sound, to show a spacious house; the simplified 宽 is a later abbreviation.

Open 宽 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9

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