落 (luò) is a Chinese character meaning “to fall”. It is written from 艹 (grass / plant radical) and 洛 (the Luo River (as in 洛阳 Luoyang)), one above the other, and takes 12 strokes.
Build the character for “to fall; to drop”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
艹 + 洛
Top–bottom structure
Structure from: 说文解字「落，凡艸曰零，木曰落。从艸洛聲」；IDS 拆分 ⿱艹洛，并以 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：笔画 0–2 为「艹」，笔画 3–11 与「洛」九笔逐笔对应（3+9=12画）
Memory aid
Leaves from the plants (艹) drift down into the Luo River (洛) below — things falling from above. That is 落: to fall.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
12 strokes
In real words
- 降落jiàng luòto land; to touch down落 = luò
- 段落duàn luòparagraph; section (of a text)落 = luò
- 坠落zhuì luòto fall; to plummet; to crash down落 = luò
- 堕落duò luòto degenerate; to go to the bad落 = luò
- 陨落yǔn luòto fall from the sky; (of a great person) to pass away落 = luò
Go deeper
All readings
to fall; to drop
to fall; to drop; to go down; to land; to settle; to fall behind
掉下；往下降；停留、归属。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 降落jiàng luòto land; to touch down落 = luò
- 段落duàn luòparagraph; section (of a text)落 = luò
- 坠落zhuì luòto fall; to plummet; to crash down落 = luò
- 堕落duò luòto degenerate; to go to the bad落 = luò
- 陨落yǔn luòto fall from the sky; (of a great person) to pass away落 = luò
Sound component
洛 family exact
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 落 mean?
落 (luò) means to fall; to drop; to go down; to land; to settle; to fall behind.
How do you pronounce 落?
It is pronounced luò.
What parts is 落 made of?
艹 (grass / plant radical) and 洛 (the Luo River (as in 洛阳 Luoyang)), one above the other. The recorded source is: 说文解字「落，凡艸曰零，木曰落。从艸洛聲」；IDS 拆分 ⿱艹洛，并以 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：笔画 0–2 为「艹」，笔画 3–11 与「洛」九笔逐笔对应（3+9=12画）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 落 have?
12. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 落?
艹. 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 落?
Common ones are 降落, 段落, 坠落. The reading of 落 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.