Meaning
open; operate (vehicle); start
Chinese: 打开、开始。
Hear the Four Tones
The same syllable “kai” becomes a different word in each tone. 开 is the 1st tone. Tap any tone to hear a native voice and see its pitch shape.
Stroke Order
Tap Animate to watch the strokes in order, or Practice to trace it yourself.
Common Words
- 打开dǎ kāito open; to show (a ticket); to turn on; to switch on
- 开车kāi chēto drive a car (or train etc); (slang) to post sexual content online; to make a sexual joke
- 开玩笑kāi wán xiàoto play a joke; to make fun of; to joke
- 开会kāi huìto hold a meeting; to attend a meeting
- 开始kāi shǐto begin; beginning; to start; initial
Example Sentence
请帮我把窗户打开。Qǐng bāng wǒ bǎ chuāng hu dǎ kāi.Please help me open the window.
请Qǐngto ask帮bāngto help我wǒI把bǎ(marks the object)窗户chuāng huwindow打开dǎ kāito open。
Go deeper
Where this character comes from
Simplified from 開: inside a gate (門), two hands lift the bar away. The simplified 开 keeps the two-hands idea. It means ‘to open / start’.
A way to remember it
Two hands lifting the bar off a gate — to open.
Easy to confuse with
- 关‘To close’: the opposite action — shutting the gate.