下 xià — below, under, lower; to go down, to get off; to fall (of rain or snow); next (下个月)

Pinyin

• xià (fourth tone, falling)

below, under, lower; to go down, to get off; to fall (of rain or snow); next (下个月)

Character breakdown

• 下shape partAn indicative graph: the same baseline, with the mark hanging beneath it.

Mnemonic

The mirror image of 上: the same long line, with the mark hanging beneath it instead of standing above. Down is also off and out — 下车 get off the vehicle, 下课 the class lets out, 下雨 rain comes down — and what follows is what is below: 下个月 is next month.

A memory aid written by HSK Guide editors. It is not an etymology and does not describe the historical origin of the character.

Words containing 下

• 下xià (fourth tone, falling)under, below, beneath
• 一下yíxià (second tone, rising)a bit, for a moment (softening a request)
• 下午xiàwǔ (fourth tone, falling)afternoon
• 下雨xià (fourth tone, falling) yǔ (third tone, dipping)to rain

Radical 一 — other characters

• 不bù (fourth tone, falling)not, no — the general negative, placed before verbs and adjectives
• 上shàng (fourth tone, falling)above, upper, on top of; to go up, to get on, to attend; last, previous (上个月)