Grammar · Chapter 27
化: the suffix that turns things into X
X + 化 → 'turn into X': 数字化, 简化, 绿化, 优化
化 at the end of a word says 'turn it into X': 数字化 — 'digitize', 简化 — 'simplify', 绿化 — 'make green', 优化 — 'optimize'. Meeting an unfamiliar 化 word, read the stem and add 'make…' — that's usually how the word was built. One odd one out: 融化 'to melt', where 化 is not the suffix.
Examples
- 图书馆把老报纸数字化以后，查找方便多了。 Túshūguǎn bǎ lǎo bàozhǐ shùzìhuà yǐhòu, cházhǎo fāngbiàn duō le. After the library digitised its old newspapers, searching became much easier.
- 方法优化以后，速度更快了。 Fāngfǎ yōuhuà yǐhòu, sùdù gèng kuài le. After the method was optimised, the speed got even higher.
- 新软件把复杂的操作简化成了三步。 Xīn ruǎnjiàn bǎ fùzá de cāozuò jiǎnhuà chéng le sān bù. The new software has simplified a complicated operation into three steps.