Chinese Conversation · Level 31
90 words
Chinese word
掉
Pronunciation
Pinyindiào
Meaning
- verbfall
Example
树上的苹果掉下来了。shù shàng de píng guǒ diào xià lái le
The apples on the tree fell down.
More examples
小心，杯子会掉下来。xiǎo xīn bēi zi huì diào xià lái
Be careful, the cup may fall down.
Core concept
A thing leaves its former position, first understood as dropping and then more broadly as being removed or no longer there.
Common phrases
掉下来diào xià lái
fall down
掉下去diào xià qù
fall down
Similar words
丢diū: Go missing from someone's hand or usual place and cannot be found.
落下luò xià: Fall from a higher place to a lower one.
Definition in Chinese
表示事物意外地掉落或失去，也可作结果补语表示某事物终结或不在了。biǎo shì shì wù yì wài dì diào luò huò shī qù yě kě zuò jié guǒ bú yǔ biǎo shì mǒu shì wù zhōng jié huò bú zài le
Word origin
The character 掉 (diào, "fall") combines the hand radical 扌 (shǒu, "hand") with 卓 (zhuō, "high"), whose role is mainly to suggest the sound rather than the meaning.
Usage tips
- English speakers often expect one fixed translation, but 掉 (diào, "fall") after a verb describes the result of that action, such as something coming off, being used up, or ending.