As a main verb 开 (kāi) means "open" or "start up" (开门, "open a door"; 开车, "drive"). As a resultative complement it names a family of related outcomes English splits across several little words — open, apart, away, off, spread. The thread linking them is separation: something is opened up, pulled apart, moved clear, or dispersed outward. 打 (dǎ) plus 开 gives 打开 (open it up); 分 (fēn, "divide") plus 开 gives 分开 (separate); 走 (zǒu, "walk") plus 开 gives 走开 (move off). Learn to hear 开 as "…and it separates/opens," and one morpheme does the work of a whole English cluster.
The four senses of 开
The senses fan out from a single image of separation. Group them and the vocabulary stops looking like a random list.
| Sense | Example | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| open up | 打开 | dǎ kāi | open (a box, book, file, switch) |
| open up | 睁开 | zhēng kāi | open (the eyes) |
| apart | 分开 | fēn kāi | separate, part |
| apart | 拉开 | lā kāi | pull open / pull apart |
| away | 走开 | zǒu kāi | move off, go away |
| away | 让开 | ràng kāi | step aside, make way |
| spread | 传开 | chuán kāi | spread (news) |
| spread | 散开 | sàn kāi | disperse, scatter |
请把窗户打开，屋里太闷了。
qǐng bǎ chuānghu dǎ kāi, wū li tài mèn le
Please open the window, it's too stuffy in here. (informal) — 打开 for opening up a closed thing.
他去年就离开了北京。
tā qùnián jiù lí kāi le Běijīng
He already left Beijing last year. (neutral) — 离开 = depart from and be away.
消息一下子就传开了。
xiāoxi yíxiàzi jiù chuán kāi le
The news spread in no time. (informal) — 传开 = spread out and around.
Away and apart in everyday speech
The "away/apart" senses are workhorses of conversation — telling someone to move, parting two things, dodging clear.
别挡路，走开一点儿。
bié dǎng lù, zǒu kāi yìdiǎnr
You're in the way, move off a bit. (informal, blunt) — 走开 = get clear.
把这两个词分开写。
bǎ zhè liǎng ge cí fēn kāi xiě
Write these two words separately. (neutral) — 分开 = keep them apart.
人群慢慢散开了。
rénqún mànman sàn kāi le
The crowd slowly dispersed. (neutral) — 散开 = scatter outward.
There is also a small but common metaphorical branch: 想开 (xiǎng kāi) and 看开 (kàn kāi) mean to "open up" your thinking about something painful — to stop dwelling and get over it.
想开点儿，这又不是你的错。
xiǎng kāi diǎnr, zhè yòu bú shì nǐ de cuò
Take it easy on yourself — it isn't your fault anyway. (informal) — 想开 = get past it in your mind.
Negation, the potential, and 开 vs 掉
Negate the completed sense with 没: 没打开 = "didn't get it open." As always, not 不.
我按了半天，门也没打开。
wǒ àn le bàntiān, mén yě méi dǎ kāi
I pressed it forever and the door still didn't open. (informal) — 没打开 = the opening didn't happen.
The potential form is everywhere with 开, because "can/can't get it open" is such a natural thing to say: 打得开 vs 打不开, 分得开 vs 分不开.
这个瓶盖太紧了，我怎么也打不开。
zhège pínggài tài jǐn le, wǒ zěnme yě dǎ bu kāi
This cap is too tight — I just can't get it open. (informal) — 打不开 = unable to open it.
Keep 开 apart from its neighbour 掉 (removal/elimination). 开 opens or moves something aside — it still exists, just separated. 掉 makes it gone. Compare 拿开 (ná kāi, "move it aside") with 拿掉 (ná diào, "take it away/remove it"): after 拿开 the thing is still there beside you; after 拿掉 it's been gotten rid of.
Common Mistakes
1. Negating with 不 instead of 没. A door that failed to open is 没打开, never 不打开.
❌ 我不打开门。
Incorrect — reads like a refusal to open it, not 'it didn't open'.
✅ 门没打开。
mén méi dǎ kāi
The door didn't open. (neutral) — 没 for the outcome that failed.
2. Using 开 where 掉 is needed for switching off. 开 as a main verb turns something on (开电视 = turn on the TV); to turn it off you need 关掉, not any form with 开.
❌ 请关开电视。
Incorrect — nonsensical; 'turn off the TV' is 关掉电视.
✅ 请关掉电视。
qǐng guān diào diànshì
Please turn off the TV. (neutral) — 掉 for elimination, not 开.
3. Confusing 没打开 with 打不开. One is a past outcome, the other an inability.
❌ 这个盒子我没打开，太难了。
Odd here — you mean you *can't* open it, which is the potential 打不开.
✅ 这个盒子我打不开，太难了。
zhège hézi wǒ dǎ bu kāi, tài nán le
I can't get this box open, it's too hard. (informal) — 打不开 for the inability.
4. Using blunt 走开 where neutral 离开 is meant. 走开 is a curt "move off / get lost"; departing a place is 离开.
❌ 他生气地走开了这家公司。
Incorrect — leaving a job/place is 离开; 走开 is 'step aside' and takes no such object.
✅ 他生气地离开了这家公司。
tā shēngqì de lí kāi le zhè jiā gōngsī
He angrily left the company. (neutral) — 离开 for departing.
Key Takeaways
- 开 (kāi) as a resultative means the action results in something opening, coming apart, moving away, or spreading: 打开, 分开, 走开, 传开.
- Gloss it as "…and it separates/opens" — one morpheme where English uses open / apart / away / off.
- A metaphor branch (想开, 看开) means to get over something in your mind.
- Negate a past outcome with 没 (没打开); express inability with the potential (打不开).
- Don't confuse 开 (separate, still there) with 掉 (gone): 拿开 vs 拿掉.
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- Resultative 掉: Removing and Getting Rid OfHSK 4 — 掉 (diào) is the resultative of removal and elimination — 扔掉 (throw away), 忘掉 (forget), 关掉 (switch off), 吃掉 (eat up), 去掉 (remove); it says the object ends up gone, like English 'off / away', and it lives inside 把 sentences.
- 把 with Resultative & Directional ComplementsHSK 3 — 把 finds its most natural home with resultative and directional complements — disposing of a definite object and stating the result: 把衣服洗干净了, 把书拿出来, 把垃圾扔掉.
- Resultative 住: Fixing in PlaceHSK 3 — 住 (zhù) is the resultative that says an action makes something secure, stationary, or held fast — 记住 (memorize and keep), 站住 (halt), 抓住 (grab hold), 停住 (come to a stop); the 'make it stay' result, negated with 没.
- 开 (kāi) — open / drive / turn on / startHSK 1 — 开 (kāi) opens things (开门), switches devices on (开灯, 开空调), operates vehicles (开车, 开飞机), starts events (开会, 开始), and even makes flowers bloom (花开了). Its opposite for doors and appliances is 关 (guān), and as a complement it means 'apart / open' (打开, 分开).