TongTong
Sign in

拆开 (chāi kāi) — to take apart; to open by separating (e.g., a package, a device, a structure)

Definition

A separable verb meaning 'to take apart / open by separating' (a package, device, or structure). Split as 拆...开 between a 把-object and a result, e.g. 把盒子拆开.

verb
to take apartto open by separating (e.g., a package, a device, a structure)

Examples

  • 拆开。
    Qǐng bǎ zhè ge hé zi chāi kāi.
    Please take apart this box.
  • 拆开。
    Tā huā le liǎng gè xiǎo shí cái bǎ jī qì chāi kāi.
    It took him two hours to take the machine apart.
  • 拆开。
    chāi kāi Bāo guǒ de shí hou xiǎo xīn bié jiǎn huài lǐ miàn de dōng xī.
    When you open the package, be careful not to cut the things inside.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
补充bǔchōngVerb + complement

An action followed by its result or direction.

拆chāitake apart
开kāiopen

拆 means take apart and 开 adds the sense of opening or separation.

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
手手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
斥
斥chì拆chāi
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

拆 uses 手 to show an action done by hand, with 斥 giving the sound. In an earlier related form, the hand part replaced an earth part to stress the action by hand.

Open 拆 →

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 →
Appears in
Change & Process

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