Chinese word

停下

Pronunciation

Pinyintíng xià

Meaning

  • verbstop

Example

车子在路口停下了。chē zi zài lù kǒu tíng xià le

The car stopped at the intersection.

Illustration for 停下 (stop)

More examples

前面有狗，他赶紧停下脚步。qián miàn yǒu gǒu tā gán jǐn tíng xià jiǎo bù

There was a dog ahead, so he quickly stopped in his tracks.

Core concept

A moving person, vehicle, or activity crosses from continuing motion into a stopped state.

Common phrases

  • 停下脚步tíng xià jiǎo bù

    stop in one's tracks

  • 停下车tíng xià chē

    stop the vehicle

Similar words

停止tíng zhǐ: Halts movement or work and prevents it from continuing.
站住zhàn zhù: Stops while walking or running and remains standing there.
停下来tíng xià lái: Slows down and then becomes completely still.
停顿tíng dùn: Stops movement or speech for a short time, then continues.

Definition in Chinese

停下表示（主体）使运动结束或自身停止，常与“了”“下来”连用表示动作完成或状态变化。tíng xià biǎo shì zhú tǐ shǐ yùn dòng jié shù huò zì shēn tíng zhǐ cháng yǔ le xià lái lián yòng biǎo shì dòng zuò wán chéng huò zhuàng tài biàn huà

Word origin

停下 (tíngxià, "stop") is formed from 停 (tíng, "stop or stay") and 下 (xià, "down"), with 下 giving the idea of arriving at the result of stopping.

Usage tips

  • In conversation, 停下 (tíngxià, "stop") can serve as a short command to end movement immediately, while the same form in a narrative simply reports what happened.

Other meanings

  • haltverb
  • quitverb

Opposites

Related words

Word lists with this word