Today’s word of the day is 缩 (suō) which means ‘to shrink’. Let’s practice making different words, phrases, and sentences with 缩 (suō).
缩写 (suō xiě) Abbreviation
The first word is 缩写 (suō xiě) which means ‘abbreviation’. Let’s look at each character of this word, 缩 means ‘to shrink’ and 写 means ‘writing’. A way of using it in a sentence is: Doctor头衔的缩写是Dr。(Nǐ yǒu méiyǒu dài shēnfèn zhèng?) The abbreviation for the title doctor is ‘dr’.
缩小 (suō xiǎo) To narrow
Another word we can create with 缩 (suō) is 缩小 (suō xiǎo). This means ‘to narrow’. Let’s again look at each character of this word, 缩 means ‘to shrink’ and 小 means ‘small’. When you search for something too broad in a search engine, you may see the notice 请缩小您的搜寻范围。(Qǐng suōxiǎo nín de sōuxún fànwéi.) Please narrow your search.
减缩 (jiǎn suō) To reduce
Finally, we can create the word 减缩 (jiǎn suō) which means ‘to reduce’. A way of using it in a sentence is 谈心可以缩短两个人之间的距离。(Tánxīn kěyǐ suōduǎn liǎng gèrén zhī jiān de jùlí.) Talking can reduce the distance between two people.