发 fā / fà — to send out; to show (one's feeling); to issue; to develop; hair
老师给我们发了新课本。Lǎo shī gěi wǒ men fā le xīn kè běn.The teacher handed out new textbooks to us.
Common words: 发现 (fā xiàn)、头发 (tóu fa)、出发 (chū fā)
Meaning Index
Chinese characters meaning "to develop"
Learn Chinese characters with the meaning "to develop", including 发 (fā / fà), 演 (yǎn), 拓 (tuò / tà), 衍 (yǎn). Study pinyin, English meanings…
How to Study This Meaning Group
The English word "to develop" covers 4 different Chinese characters — 发 (fā / fà), 演 (yǎn), 拓 (tuò / tà), 衍 (yǎn) — and each is its own word with its own feel. These 4 characters do not share a sound — their readings span fā, fà, yǎn, tuò, tà — so confirm the pinyin and tone for each one separately. The example sentences further down show how 发 and the others are actually used, so you learn them in context rather than as a single translation.
- 发 fā / fàto send out; to show (one's feeling); to issue; to develop; hairUseful words: 发现, 头发
- 演 yǎnto develop; to evolve; to practice; to perform; to play; to actUseful words: 表演, 演出
- 拓 tuò / tàmake rubbing; expand; support on palm; to develop; to open upUseful words: 开拓, 拓展
- 衍 yǎnto spread out; to develop; to overflow; to amplifyUseful words: 敷衍, 衍生
Common words for these 4 "to develop" characters
Anchor each of these 4 characters in a word you can picture — start with 发 (fā / fà) — so "to develop" turns into concrete usage instead of a one-to-one translation.
发现fā xiànto notice; to become aware of; to discover; to find头发tóu fahair (on the head)出发chū fāto set off; to start (on a journey)表演biǎo yǎnplay; show; performance; exhibition演出yǎn chūto act (in a play); to perform; to put on (a performance); performance演员yǎn yuánactor; actress; performer开拓kāi tuòto break new ground (for agriculture); to open up (a new seam); to develop (border regions); fig. to open up (new horizons)拓展tuò zhǎnto expand; to extend; to broaden (client base, outlook, territory etc); (computing) to scale up拓宽tuò kuānto broaden敷衍fū yǎnto elaborate (on a theme); to expound (the classics); perfunctory; to skimp
See each character in a sentence
Each character below is shown in a short example sentence with pinyin and an English translation — the quickest way to feel the difference between the 4 ways to say "to develop".
演 yǎn — to develop; to evolve; to practice; to perform; to play; to act
这位演员的表演十分精彩。Zhè wèi yǎn yuán de biǎo yǎn shí fēn jīng cǎi.This actor performance is wonderful.
Common words: 表演 (biǎo yǎn)、演出 (yǎn chū)、演员 (yǎn yuán)
拓 tuò / tà — make rubbing; expand; support on palm; to develop; to open up
我们要不断开拓自己的眼界。Wǒ men yào bú duàn kāi tuò zì jǐ de yǎn jiè.We should constantly broaden our horizons.
Common words: 开拓 (kāi tuò)、拓展 (tuò zhǎn)、拓宽 (tuò kuān)
衍 yǎn — to spread out; to develop; to overflow; to amplify
“繁衍”的意思是不断地生长、繁殖。“Fán yǎn” de yì si shì bú duàn de shēng zhǎng, fán zhí.The word fanyan means to grow and reproduce continuously.
Common words: 敷衍 (fū yǎn)、衍生 (yǎn shēng)、衍化 (yǎn huà)
All 4 characters
Open 发、演、拓 or any character below to hear it read aloud and see it used in an example sentence.