让开 (ràng kāi) — to make way, to move aside, to step aside

Definition

让开 (ràng kāi) is a spoken command or request meaning 'move aside / make way.' Unlike 让 alone, it specifically tells someone to get out of your path or let you pass.

verb
to make wayto move asideto step aside

Examples

  • 让开，。
    Qǐng ràng kāi yí xià, wǒ yào guò qù.
    Please move aside, I need to get through.
  • 让开！！
    ràng kāi! Chē lái le!
    Move aside! A car is coming!
  • 让开，。
    Tā ràng kāi le, ràng bìng rén xiān zǒu.
    He stepped aside to let the patient go first.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
补充bǔchōngVerb + complement

An action followed by its result or direction.

让ràngyield/move aside
开kāiopen/away

让 means yield/move aside and 开 means open/away, so the action makes way.

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 讓; 让 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yán
Sound part声符shēngfú
襄
襄xiāng讓ràng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 讓 combines 言, showing speech, with 襄, giving the sound; the evidence links it to criticizing or reproaching. The simplified 让 is a later shorthand.

Open 让 →

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 →

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