Definition
张 (zhāng) as a verb means 'to open up' or 'to spread', focusing on opening something closed (mouth, eyes) or stretching something flexible. This contrasts with 展开 (zhǎn kāi 'to unfold') for unfolding folded items, and 铺 (pū 'to spread flat') for laying flat on a surface. As a classifier, 张 is for flat objects (paper, photos, tables) and votes, while 篇 (piān) is for written items like articles.
verb
to open upto spread
classifier
for flat objects such as paperphotosand tablesfor votes or ballots
Easily confused
- 胀zhànglook-alike(verb) to swell
- 长zhǎngsound-alike(adjective) elder, senior in age
- 涨zhànglook-aliketo swell, to distend
- 长zhǎngsound-alike(verb) to grow
- 章zhāngsound-alike(classifier) for chapters of a book, sections of a document, or clauses of a law
- 涨zhàngsound-aliketo swell, to expand in volume
Examples
- 张。Qǐng zhāng yí xià zuǐ.Please open your mouth.
- 张。Wǒ mǎi le sān zhāng báizhǐ.I bought three sheets of white paper.
- 张。Jiàoshì lǐ yǒu shí zhāng xīn zhuōzi.There are ten new desks in the classroom.
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