Complement Pattern “-kāi”
开
How it works
As a complement, 开 (kāi) often indicates that something becomes separated, opened, unblocked, spread out, or released from a previous state. At HSK6 level, it is widely used in both concrete and abstract meanings.
It can express:
physical opening or separation
emotional release
mental broadening
expansion of space, thought, or condition
The pattern
Example sentences
刚开始大家还有些顾虑，可一旦把话说开了，很多误会反而就自然消失了。
At first everyone still had some concerns, but once things were spoken openly, many misunderstandings naturally disappeared instead.
一个人如果总把自己封闭起来，思路就很难真正打开；只有走出去，眼界才会慢慢宽开。
If a person always shuts himself off, it is difficult for his thinking to truly open up; only by going out can his horizons gradually broaden.
她想了很久，最后还是决定先把个人得失看开一点儿。
She thought for a long time and in the end decided to take personal gain and loss a bit more lightly.
Key point
At HSK6 level, 开 (kāi) often appears in abstract expressions such as 说开 (shuō kāi), 想开 (xiǎng kāi), 看开 (kàn kāi), where it indicates release, openness, or removal of blockage.