Definition
长 (zhǎng) as a verb means 'to grow' — used for people, plants, or body parts getting bigger. As a suffix (e.g., 校长, 部长), it means 'head, chief' and attaches to titles. This is different from 头 (tóu), which as a noun means 'head' or 'leader' in a more general, informal way (e.g., 头儿 'the boss'), and from 领导 (lǐngdǎo), which is a formal noun/verb for 'leader' or 'to lead'.
verb
to grow(suffix) headchief (in titles such as 校长, 部长)
Easily confused
- 张zhāngsound-aliketo open up; to spread
- 章zhāngsound-alike(classifier) for chapters of a book, sections of a document, or clauses of a law
- 涨zhàngsound-aliketo swell, to distend
- 涨zhàngsound-aliketo swell, to expand in volume
- 胀zhàngsound-alike(verb) to swell
Examples
- 长。Zhè kē shù zhǎng de hěn kuài.This tree grows very fast.
- 长。Tā qùnián zhǎng gāo le hěn duō.He grew a lot taller last year.
- 长。Háizi zhǎng de zhēn kuài.Children grow really fast.
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