TongTong
Sign in

提升 (tí shēng) — to lift, to hoist (physically); to promote (to a higher position); to improve, to raise (quality, efficiency, ability, etc.)

Definition

提升 covers both 'promote' (a position) and 'improve' (quality, efficiency), abstract or concrete. Pairs more naturally than 提高 with people getting promoted; 提高 is mainly for raising levels or numbers.

verb
to liftto hoist (physically)to promote (to a higher position)to improveto raise (quality, efficiency, ability, etc.)

Examples

  • 提升。
    Gōng rén yòng jī qì tí shēng xiāng zi.
    Workers use a machine to lift the boxes.
  • ，提升。
    Yīn wèi chéng jì yōu xiù, tā bèi tí shēng wèi zǔ zhǎng.
    Because of excellent results, he was promoted to group leader.
  • 提升。
    Xué xiào nǔ lì tí shēng jiào xué zhì liàng.
    The school strives to improve teaching quality.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
补充bǔchōngVerb + complement

An action followed by its result or direction.

提tílift
升shēngrise

'提' lifts and '升' adds going up, meaning to raise or promote.

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
是
是shì提tí
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

提 shows 扌 (hand) beside 是, which gives the pronunciation.

Open 提 →

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

The shape comes from a drawing of a standard dipper used to measure one 升.

Open 升 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 5Change & Process

Browse more HSK 5 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.