A stick underground

Pinyin	xià
Meaning	down; under; below; next; to get down; to fall; classifier used to show the frequency of an action
Radical	一	繁體字	same

n/a

category: ideograph

structure: single

3stroke count

HSK 1

Breakdown

下 (xià) “down” is an ideograph that consists of two parts, 一 and 卜. While 一 marks a line that divides up and down, 卜 indicates something under this line. Note that even though the antonym 上 (shàng) “up” seems like a mirror image of 下 (xià), these two characters are not exactly symmetrical. As the last stroke in 下 (xià) “down” is a 45-degree dot 丶 instead of a short horizontal bar 一 in 上 (shàng) “up.”

The last strokes of 下 (xià) “down” and 上 (shàng) “up” are different.

Used as a morpheme/word

下 (xià) is usually related to the lower portions or downward motions.

How to pronounce

First, lift up the blade of your tongue until it is touching the roof of your mouth (behind the teeth, but not touching them), then say “see ya” in one syllable.