How common it is
延长 appears often in everyday Chinese, so it is worth practicing early and reviewing often.
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Pronunciation focus
Say yán cháng slowly first, then repeat it in a short phrase. Listen for the tone shape.
Usage note
“延长”意思是让时间或长度变得更长。比如，你可以延长假期，也可以延长一条路。
“Yán cháng” yìsi shì ràng shíjiān huò chángdù biàn dé gèng cháng. Bǐrú, nǐ kěyǐ yán cháng jiàqī, yě kěyǐ yán cháng yī tiáo lù.
"Extend" means to make time or length longer. For example, you can extend a holiday, or extend a road.
Context note
在学校里，老师可能会说：“因为下雨，我们的课间休息时间延长了十分钟。”这表示休息时间变多了。
Zài xuéxiào lǐ, lǎoshī kěnéng huì shuō: “Yīnwèi xià yǔ, wǒmen de kèjiān xiūxí shíjiān yán cháng le shí fēnzhōng.” Zhè biǎoshì xiūxí shíjiān biàn duō le.
At school, the teacher might say: "Because it's raining, our break time is extended by ten minutes." This means the break time becomes longer.
5 examples
妈妈把面条的长度延长了。
mā ma bǎ miàn tiáo de cháng dù yán cháng le。
Mom extended the length of the noodles.
我们可以延长游戏时间吗？
wǒ men kě yǐ yán cháng yóu xì shí jiān ma？
Can we extend the game time?
这条小路被延长到了河边。
zhè tiáo xiǎo lù bèi yán cháng dào le hé biān。
This path was extended to the river.
老师延长了考试时间。
lǎo shī yán cháng le kǎo shì shí jiān。
The teacher extended the exam time.
春天来了，白天延长了。
chūn tiān lái le， bái tiān yán cháng le。
Spring has come, and the daytime is extended.
5 mini stories
小明想延长他的生日派对。他请妈妈多买一些蛋糕。
xiǎo míng xiǎng yán cháng tā de shēng rì pài duì。 tā qǐng mā ma duō mǎi yì xiē dàn gāo。
Xiao Ming wants to extend his birthday party. He asks Mom to buy more cake.
小红的跳绳比赛时间延长了。她跳得更开心了。
xiǎo hóng de tiào shéng bǐ sài shí jiān yán cháng le。 tā tiào dé gèng kāi xīn le。
Xiao Hong's jump rope competition time was extended. She jumped more happily.
老师延长了画画课。小朋友们画了更多漂亮的画。
lǎo shī yán cháng le huà huà kè。 xiǎo péng yǒu men huà le gèng duō piào liang de huà。
The teacher extended the art class. The children drew more beautiful pictures.
小刚的假期延长了。他可以去海边玩。
xiǎo gāng de jià qī yán cháng le。 tā kě yǐ qù hǎi biān wán。
Xiao Gang's holiday was extended. He can go play at the beach.
因为下雨，体育课延长了。同学们在室内做游戏。
yīn wèi xià yǔ， tǐ yù kè yán cháng le。 tóng xué men zài shì nèi zuò yóu xì。
Because of rain, the PE class was extended. The classmates played games indoors.