HSK · Level 35
120 words
Chinese word
颠倒
Pronunciation
Pinyindiān dǎo
Meaning
- verbturn upside down
Example
他把照片颠倒挂在墙上。tā bǎ zhào piān diān dǎo guà zài qiáng shàng
He hung the photo upside down on the wall.
More examples
不要把结果当成原因，否则就是在颠倒因果。bú yào bǎ jié guǒ dàng chéng yuán yīn fǒu zé jiù shì zài diān dǎo yīn guǒ
Do not mistake the effect for the cause; otherwise, you are reversing cause and effect.
Core concept
A thing or sequence is flipped from its expected orientation, so its parts occupy the wrong places and the result can go astray.
Common phrases
颠倒因果diān dǎo yīn guǒ
reverse cause and effect
颠倒是非diān dǎo shì fēi
confuse right and wrong
Similar words
倒过来dào guò lái: Turn an object, especially paper, over so its facing direction is reversed.
反过来fǎn guò lái: Reverse something's direction or order so it goes the opposite way.
Definition in Chinese
使物体的上下或前后方向与原来相反，也可指把顺序、次第或判断翻转以致混乱或错误。shǐ wù tǐ de shàng xià huò qián hòu fāng xiàng yǔ yuán lái xiāng fǎn yě kě zhǐ bǎ shùn xù cì dì huò pàn duàn fān zhuǎn yǐ zhì hùn luàn huò cuò wù
Word origin
The compound 颠 (diān, "topple") + 倒 (dǎo, "fall over") builds a picture of physical overturning that extends naturally to reversed order or judgment.
Usage tips
- As a verb, it commonly takes the thing being reversed as its object, so the sentence structure shows clearly what has been affected.
Other meanings
- upside downadjective
- confuseverb
Opposites
- 分清fēn qīngtell apart clearlyverb