TongTong
Sign in

开门 (kāi mén) — to open a door (literal and figurative); to open for business (of a store)

Definition

A separable verb: split as 开…门 when inserting measure words (开一次门, 开了三个小时的门). Lit. 'open a door' and fig. 'open for business' — for the figurative sense, 营业 is more formal.

verb
to open a door (literal and figurative)to open for business (of a store)

Examples

  • 开门。
    Qǐng bāng wǒ kāi mén yí xià.
    Please help me open the door.
  • 开门。
    Tā men měi tiān jiǔ diǎn kāi mén.
    They open for business at nine every day.
  • 。
    Wǒ men shāng diàn jīn tiān kāi le sān gè xiǎo shí de mén.
    Our store opened its doors for three hours today.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

开kāiopen
门méndoor

开 open acts on 门 door, giving the literal sense of opening a door.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 門; 门 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 門 pictures a gate as two door shapes side by side; the simplified 门 is a later shorthand.

Open 门 →
Appears in
Daily Routine3000 Most Frequent Chinese Words5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.