HSK 3.0 Level 3 · Everyday Verbs

开机 kāijī “to switch on (a device)” in Chinese

Traditional 開機

What 开机 means

  1. to switch on (a device)
  2. to boot up
  3. to start an engine
  4. to boot up (a computer)
  5. to begin shooting a film or TV show

How to say 开机

  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale开kāi1st tone, high and level
  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale机jī1st tone, high and level

开机 in a sentence

  1. 我的电脑开机很慢。

    Wǒ de diànnǎo kāijī hěn màn.

    My computer is very slow to start up.

    Sentence by WillyChina

  2. 下了飞机，我马上开机给妈妈打电话。

    Xià le fēijī, wǒ mǎshàng kāijī gěi māma dǎ diànhuà.

    As soon as I got off the plane, I turned on my phone and called my mum.

    Sentence by WillyChina

How 开机 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 开 (kāi) with each of its parts in a different colour
开kāito open
  • 一one · yī
  • 廾two hands · gǒng

Memory aidSimplified from 開: two hands lifting the bar of a gate 門: to open.

The character 机 (jī) with each of its parts in a different colour
机jīmachine; mechanism
  • 木tree · mù
  • 几table · jī

Memory aidA small table 几 made of wood 木: a machine. 几 (jī) also gives the sound.

How to write 开机

开 4 strokes · 机 6 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

开机 (kāijī) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 开机 (kāijī). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 开机

Words with 开

开kāi · to open开车kāichē · to drive a car开始kāishǐ · to begin开学kāixué · to start a new school term打开dǎkāi · to open离开líkāi · leave开会kāihuì · to have a meeting开花kāihuā · to bloom分开fēnkāi · to separate开心kāixīn · to feel happy

Words with 机

飞机fēijī · aeroplane机场jīchǎng · airport手机shǒujī · mobile phone机票jīpiào · air ticket司机sījī · driver机会jīhuì · opportunity相机xiàngjī · camera耳机ěrjī · headphones关机guānjī · to turn off (a device)照相机zhàoxiàngjī · camera

More words: Everyday Verbs

刮guā · to blow (of wind)扫sǎo · to sweep搬家bānjiā · to move house关机guānjī · to turn off (a device)无法wúfǎ · to be unable to管guǎn · to manage活huó · to live定dìng · to decide

FAQs

开机 (kāijī) means “to switch on (a device)” or “to boot up”. It is an HSK 3.0 Level 3 word.
Say it kāijī: kāi with a 1st tone, then jī with a 1st tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
In Traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, 开机 is written 開機. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type kaiji with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 开机 from the suggestions. Typing kaiji into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
开机 is an HSK 3.0 Level 3 word in the official 2021 syllabus, and it is on our HSK 3.0 Band 5 word list. It is not on the older HSK 2.0 word lists.

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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences written by WillyChina. Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.