verb HSK 4
zhào liàng
to illuminate · to light up · to shine on

Meaning

照亮 means to illuminate or light up something, making it bright and visible. It combines 照 (to shine, to illuminate) with 亮 (bright, light). The word is commonly used both literally for physical light sources and metaphorically for ideas, hope, or people that bring brightness into life.

Usage

照亮 is used in both everyday contexts (lights illuminating a room) and poetic or inspirational contexts (knowledge illuminating the mind, hope lighting up life). It's more formal than simple 亮 alone and emphasizes the action of making something bright. Often appears with objects like 房间 (room), 道路 (road), 心灵 (heart/soul), or 世界 (world).

Examples

  1. 01
    月光照亮了整个房间。
    Yuè guāng zhào liàng le zhěng fáng jiān.
    The moonlight illuminated the entire room.
  2. 02
    知识能照亮我们前进的道路。
    Zhī shi néng zhào liàng men qián jìn de dào .
    Knowledge can light up the path forward for us.

Characters

Common collocations

  • 照亮道路
    zhào liàng dào
    to light up the road
  • 照亮世界
    zhào liàng shì jiè
    to illuminate the world
  • 用...照亮
    yòng ... zhào liàng
    to use ... to illuminate
  • 照亮
    bèi zhào liàng
    to be illuminated

Antonyms

Origin

The word combines 照 (originally depicting the sun shining) with 亮 (bright), creating a compound verb that emphasizes both the action of shining and the resulting brightness.

Related