suō duǎn
shorten; curtail; cut down
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为了缩短工期，他们加班加点地工作。
Wèile suōduǎn gōngqī, tāmen jiābān jiādiǎn de gōngzuò.
In order to shorten the construction period, they worked overtime.
这条新高速公路将大大缩短两地之间的距离。
Zhè tiáo xīn gāosù gōnglù jiāng dàdà suōduǎn liǎngdì zhījiān de jùlí.
This new expressway will greatly shorten the distance between the two places.
为了缩短学习时间，他每天都坚持早起晚睡。
Wèile suōduǎn xuéxí shíjiān, tā měitiān dōu jiānchí zǎoqǐ wǎnshuì.
In order to shorten the study time, he insisted on getting up early and going to bed late every day.
The Chinese word 缩短 (suōduǎn) means "to shorten" or "to reduce". It is composed of two characters: 缩 (suō), which means "to shrink" or "to contract", and 短 (duǎn), which means "short". The word 缩短 can be used in a variety of contexts, such as to describe the process of making something shorter, to reduce the amount of time something takes, or to reduce the distance between two things. For example, you could say 缩短裙子 (suōduǎn qúnzi) to mean "to shorten a skirt", 缩短时间 (suōduǎn shíjiān) to mean "to reduce the time", or 缩短距离 (suōduǎn jùlí) to mean "to reduce the distance".
