张 (zhāng): measure word for flat things (p…

Meanings

1 measure word for flat things (paper, tables, photos, tickets)
2 to open up; to spread; to stretch
3 (surname) Zhang

Characters

张

zhāng

to spread; measure word for flat things

Combines 弓 (bow) with 长 (long) — stretching a bowstring taut, hence 'to spread open'.

Examples

给我一张纸。

Gěi wǒ yī zhāng zhǐ.

Give me a sheet of paper.

我买了两张票。

Wǒ mǎi le liǎng zhāng piào.

I bought two tickets.

墙上挂着一张照片。

Qiáng shàng guà zhe yī zhāng zhàopiàn.

A photo hangs on the wall.

他张开嘴巴。

Tā zhāngkāi zuǐba.

He opened his mouth.

Tips

usage

张 is used for flat, spreadable objects: paper (一张纸), photos (一张照片), tables (一张桌子), beds (一张床), tickets (一张票), cards (一张卡).

culture

张 is one of the most common Chinese surnames, shared by over 90 million people.

Components

radical

弓 gōng

bow (weapon)

Bow radical on the left — depicts an unstrung archery bow. Indexes 张 in the bow/arrow family with 引 to draw, 弦 bowstring, 弱 weak. The original verb 张 was 'to draw a bow taut,' and the radical is the literal subject. From that came 'to spread, stretch open' and the measure-word use for flat sheets.

phonetic

长 cháng

long; length

Right side 长 supplies the sound (zhǎng/cháng → zhāng, just a tone shift). 长 itself depicts long flowing hair, so it adds a faint sense of 'extending out, lengthening.' Pair the bow with this elongation idea and you get the meaning: a bow drawn long, taut, fully extended — exactly what 张 means.