How common it is
缩短 appears often in everyday Chinese, so it is worth practicing early and reviewing often.
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Pronunciation focus
Say suō duǎn slowly first, then repeat it in a short phrase. Listen for the tone shape.
Usage note
“缩短”是一个动词，意思是使某物变得更短。
“Suō duǎn” shì yīgè dòngcí, yìsi shì shǐ mǒuwù biàn dé gèng duǎn.
"Suō duǎn" is a verb meaning to make something shorter.
Context note
在数学课上，老师教我们如何缩短一条线段。
Zài shùxué kè shàng, lǎoshī jiāo wǒmen rúhé suō duǎn yī tiáo xiànduàn.
In math class, the teacher taught us how to shorten a line segment.
5 examples
请缩短你的句子，让它更简单。
qǐng suō duǎn nǐ de jù zi， ràng tā gèng jiǎn dān。
Please shorten your sentence to make it simpler.
这条裤子太长了，需要缩短。
zhè tiáo kù zǐ tài cháng le， xū yào suō duǎn。
These pants are too long and need to be shortened.
老师缩短了上课时间。
lǎo shī suō duǎn le shàng kè shí jiān。
The teacher shortened the class time.
我们可以缩短这段路吗？
wǒ men kě yǐ suō duǎn zhè duàn lù ma？
Can we shorten this road?
他缩短了绳子的长度。
tā suō duǎn le shéng zi de cháng dù。
He shortened the length of the rope.
5 mini stories
小华写了一个很长的故事。老师让他缩短一些。
xiǎo huá xiě le yí gè hěn cháng de gù shì。 lǎo shī ràng tā suō duǎn yì xiē。
Xiao Hua wrote a very long story. The teacher asked him to shorten it a bit.
妈妈把裙子缩短了。现在它正合适。
mā ma bǎ qún zǐ suō duǎn le。 xiàn zài tā zhèng hé shì。
Mom shortened the skirt. Now it fits perfectly.
我们缩短了游戏时间。这样有更多时间学习。
wǒ men suō duǎn le yóu xì shí jiān。 zhè yàng yǒu gèng duō shí jiān xué xí。
We shortened the game time. This way we have more time to study.
小明缩短了铅笔。因为他削了很多次。
xiǎo míng suō duǎn le qiān bǐ。 yīn wèi tā xiāo le hěn duō cì。
Xiao Ming shortened the pencil. Because he sharpened it many times.
老师缩短了假期作业。学生们很高兴。
lǎo shī suō duǎn le jià qī zuò yè。 xué shēng men hěn gāo xìng。
The teacher shortened the holiday homework. The students were very happy.