开垦

開墾

kāikěn

verb HSK 7-9 #38,989

Meanings

1 to reclaim (wasteland); to cultivate
2 to open up (land for farming)

Characters

to open; to start

to cultivate; to reclaim (land)

To open up land for cultivation — to reclaim wasteland.

Examples

农民们开垦了一大片荒地。

Nóngmín men kāikěn le yīdà piàn huāngdì.

The farmers reclaimed a large area of wasteland.

这片土地是祖辈开垦出来的。

Zhè piàn tǔdì shì zǔbèi kāikěn chūlái de.

This land was reclaimed by our ancestors.

Tips

memory

垦 has 土 (earth) at the bottom — you open (开) the earth (土) to farm it.

Stroke Order

开 kāi

垦 kěn