下
down; under; below; next
HSK level
- Pinyin
- xià
- Part of speech
- noun
- Level
- HSK 1
- Strokes
- 3
- Register
- neutral
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.
Memory hook: Line with a dot below = something underneath. 上 has the dot above, 下 has it below.
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
Synonyms
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
FAQ
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