睁

睜
zhēng
争 + 目
HSK 2.0Level 5
HSK 3.0Level 6

Definitions

zhēng (verb) to open (one's eyes)

Etymology

Phonosemantic compound. 目 represents the meaning and 争 represents the sound. Simplified form of 睜.

Semantic: 目 Phonetic: 争

About

The traditional form is 睜. This phono-semantic compound uses the semantic eye radical 目 (mù) on the left, indicating an action related to vision. The right side is the phonetic component 争 (zhēng, to strive), which appears as 爭 in traditional script. The character means to open the eyes, often with a sense of deliberate or wide-eyed effort. The combination of eye and striving suggests the physical action of parting the eyelids to look or stare attentively.

Example Sentences Hide

他睁开了眼睛。

Tā zhēng kāi le yǎn jīng.

He opened his eyes.

请你睁开眼睛看看。

Qǐng nǐ zhēng kāi yǎn jīng kàn kan.

Please open your eyes and look.

孩子惊恐地睁大了双眼。

Háizi jīngkǒng de zhēng dà le shuāng yǎn.

The child opened his eyes wide in terror.

她一直睁着眼等到天亮。

Tā yìzhí zhēng zhe yǎn děng dào tiān liàng.

She stayed awake with her eyes open until dawn.

对这个问题我们不能睁一只眼闭一只眼。

Duì zhège wèntí wǒmen bùnéng zhēng yì zhī yǎn bì yì zhī yǎn.

We cannot turn a blind eye to this problem.

他明明看见了，却睁眼说瞎话。

Tā míngmíng kànjiàn le, què zhēng yǎn shuō xiāhuà.

He obviously saw it, but he is telling a barefaced lie.

在强光下，他勉强睁开了眼睛。

Zài qiángguāng xià, tā miǎnqiǎng zhēng kāi le yǎn jīng.

Under the strong light, he managed to open his eyes.

他第一次睁眼看这个陌生而复杂的世界。

Tā dì yī cì zhēng yǎn kàn zhège mòshēng ér fùzá de shìjiè.

For the first time, he opened his eyes to look at this strange and complex world.

Related Characters

Component: 争

静 净 挣 铮 筝 狰 诤 峥 婙 琤 諍 錚

Component: 目

着 看 相 目 眼 省 睛 督 睡 冒 泪 眉 瞧 盯

Example Words

睁眼 睁开 眼睁睁 睁一眼闭一眼 睁眼瞎