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HSK 1

下

down; under; below; next

nounneutral1 episode
下
xià4th tone

HSK level

1
2
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Pinyin
xià
Part of speech
noun
Level
HSK 1
Strokes
3
Register
neutral
In episodes
1

Stroke order for 下

下 is written with 3 strokes. The animation replays automatically.

What does 下 mean?

下 (xià) is a busy little character with three families of meaning.

(1) Direction: 'down / below / under' — 下面 (below), 桌子下 (under the table), 下班 (get off work, literally 'descend from work'). (2) Time / sequence: 'next' — 下次 (next time), 下个月 (next month), 下星期 (next week). (3) Verb sense: 'to go down / fall / descend / give off' — 下雨 (to rain, lit. 'rain comes down'), 下车 (get off the vehicle), 下楼 (go downstairs).

下 also serves as a measure word for actions or counts ('one more time'): 等一下 ('wait a moment'), 看一下 ('take a look'). The mirror character is 上 (shàng, 'up'), and they pair across all three meaning families: 上面 / 下面, 上次 / 下次, 上车 / 下车. Learning 下 well means watching how Chinese maps direction onto time and action.

Hear 下 in real episodes

下 appears in 1 Fluentide podcast episode at natural native speed — each with the full Chinese script, pinyin, and line-by-line English translation.

Two Pygmy Goats Boarded a Portland City Bus. Some Passengers Never Looked Up From Their Phones.下 spoken at natural speedbeginner
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Example sentences

今天下雨。

Jīntiān xià yǔ.

It's raining today.

spoken

请等一下。

Qǐng děng yíxià.

Please wait a moment.

polite

下个星期我去北京。

Xià ge xīngqī wǒ qù Běijīng.

I'm going to Beijing next week.

neutral

猫在桌子下面。

Māo zài zhuōzi xiàmiàn.

The cat is under the table.

spoken

Common phrases with 下

下面xiàmiànbelow; underneath
下次xià cìnext time
下雨xià yǔto rain
下班xià bānto get off work
等一下děng yíxiàwait a moment

Synonyms

下面xiàmiàn

下面 is the full locational noun ('the area below / underneath'). 下 alone usually attaches to other words (下个月) or pairs with another noun (桌子下). For 'below' as a standalone location, use 下面.

Don't confuse 下 with

上shàng

上 means 'up / above / previous / get on.' 下 means 'down / below / next / get off.' They mirror each other across direction, time, and action: 上次 (last time) / 下次 (next time); 上车 (get on) / 下车 (get off).

不bù

Visually similar at a glance — both have a horizontal line on top. 不 means 'not / no'; 下 means 'down.' Look for the small downward stroke and dot on 下.

FAQ

Related words from the same episodes

车站bus stop, station打电话to make a phone call跟着to follow看见to see门door请to ask, to invite上to get on手机mobile phone羊goat, sheep知道to know只measure word for animals

Acquire it by listening

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