字Study Chinese Characters
下

xià down; below

3 strokes

下 (xià) is a Chinese character meaning “down”. It is written from 一 (one) and 卜 (divination), one above the other, and takes 3 strokes.

Build the character for “down; below”

Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.

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Learn this character

Structure

一 + 卜

Top–bottom structure

  • 一 one · yī unknown
  • 卜 divination · bǔ unknown

Structure from: Unicode U+4E0B, build-time dictionary IDS candidate, and hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 modern glyph inspection

Memory aid

Place the divination shape (卜) below the horizontal stroke (一): 下 means down or below.

This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.

Stroke order

3 strokes

In real words

  • 下雨xià yǔto rain下 = xià
  • 下面xià miànbelow; underneath下 = xià
  • 下午xià wǔafternoon; p.m.下 = xià
  • 下坠xià zhuìto sink; to drop downward下 = xià
  • 下坡xià pōdownhill; to go down a slope下 = xià
  • 下垂xià chuíto hang down; to droop下 = xià
  • 吞下tūn xiàto swallow down下 = xià
  • 坐下zuò xiàto sit down下 = xià
  • 下棋xià qíto play chess下 = xià
  • 下载xià zàito download下 = xià
  • 下降xià jiàngto decline; to go down下 = xià
  • 下雪xià xuěto snow下 = xià
  • 留下liú xiàto stay behind; to leave (something) behind下 = xià
  • 趴下pā xiàto lie down flat; to drop face-down下 = xià
Go deeper

All readings

xià main reading

down; below

down; below; under; to descend or go down

方位在低处；向低处移动；也可表示在某物之下。 — studyhanzi 编写

Words with this reading

  • 下雨xià yǔto rain下 = xià
  • 下面xià miànbelow; underneath下 = xià
  • 下午xià wǔafternoon; p.m.下 = xià
  • 下坠xià zhuìto sink; to drop downward下 = xià
  • 下坡xià pōdownhill; to go down a slope下 = xià
  • 下垂xià chuíto hang down; to droop下 = xià
  • 吞下tūn xiàto swallow down下 = xià
  • 坐下zuò xiàto sit down下 = xià
  • 下棋xià qíto play chess下 = xià
  • 下载xià zàito download下 = xià
  • 下降xià jiàngto decline; to go down下 = xià
  • 下雪xià xuěto snow下 = xià
  • 留下liú xiàto stay behind; to leave (something) behind下 = xià
  • 趴下pā xiàto lie down flat; to drop face-down下 = xià

Other characters with these parts

一 → 一七丁丈三万与上

卜 → 仆占卤卧卦处外扑

Easy to confuse with

上不

Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions

Questions people ask about this character

What does 下 mean?

下 (xià) means down; below; under; to descend or go down.

How do you pronounce 下?

It is pronounced xià.

What parts is 下 made of?

一 (one) and 卜 (divination), one above the other. The recorded source is: Unicode U+4E0B, build-time dictionary IDS candidate, and hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 modern glyph inspection. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.

How many strokes does 下 have?

3. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.

What is the radical of 下?

一. The radical is how the character is filed in a dictionary — it is not the whole story of how the character is built.

What words use 下?

Common ones are 下雨 and 下面. The reading of 下 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.