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扩建 (kuò jiàn) — to expand, to extend (a building, facility, road, etc.)

Definition

扩建 is used for physical construction projects — extending a building, runway, or facility. Unlike 扩大 or 扩展 (which describe abstract scope or scale), it implies actual building work.

verb
to expandto extend (a building, facility, road, etc.)

Examples

  • 扩建。
    Xué xiào jì huà míng nián kuò jiàn cāo chǎng.
    The school plans to expand the playground next year.
  • 扩建，。
    Jī chǎng zhèng zài kuò jiàn, míng nián jiù néng tóu rù shǐ yòng.
    The airport is being expanded and will be operational next year.
  • 扩建，。
    Zhè jiā yī yuàn kuò jiàn le jí zhěn shì, kě yǐ jiē dài gèng duō bìng rén.
    This hospital expanded its emergency room and can now receive more patients.

Origin

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 擴; 扩 is its simplified writing.

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

The traditional form 擴 combines 扌 (hand) and 廣 (guǎng) to show stretching or enlarging with hands. The simplified 扩 is not the form described here.

Open 扩 →

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

  • 廴廴yǐn
  • 聿聿yù

The shape 建 shows 廴 and 聿, but it comes from an older drawing of a hand planting a pole into a base; the lower part of 聿 is not a brush.

Open 建 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Buildings & Structures

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