倒 meaning and stroke order
To fall; to collapse; to lie horizontally; to fail; to go bankrupt; to overthrow
How to write 倒, stroke by stroke
10 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
- 1
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- 10
Meaning of 倒
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- to fall; to collapse; to lie horizontally
- to fail; to go bankrupt
- to overthrow
- to change (trains or buses)
- to move around
- to resell at a profit
- to invert; to place upside down or frontside back
- to pour out
- to tip out; to dump
- inverted; upside down; reversed
- to go backward
- contrary to what one might expect; but; yet
How 倒 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Person.
亻 gives the meaning and 到 hints at the sound.
Radical: 亻 (man), shared by 277 characters on this site.
How to remember 倒
倒 is a person 亻 next to 到 (dào), which gives the sound. Picture a person who has just arrived 到 and is so tired they fall over 倒.
Read it dǎo when something falls or fails, as in 摔倒 (shuāidǎo) or 倒闭 (dǎobì). Read it dào for pouring, reversing, or the meaning "actually, contrary to expectation," as in 倒是 (dàoshì). Example: 请给我倒一杯水。(Qǐng gěi wǒ dào yì bēi shuǐ.) Please pour me a glass of water.
Common mistake: Learners often use one tone for every meaning. 倒车 is dǎochē (change buses), but the same characters read dàochē mean to reverse a car. Also do not confuse 倒 with 到 (dào, to arrive), which has no 亻 on the left.
Common words with 倒
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 倒闭 | dǎobì | to go bankrupt; to close down | HSK 4 |
| 倒车 | dǎochē | to change buses, trains etc | HSK 4 |
| 摔倒 | shuāidǎo | to fall down; to slip and fall | HSK 5 |
| 倒是 | dàoshì | contrary to what one might expect; actually | HSK 5 |
| 倒霉 | dǎoméi | to have bad luck; to be out of luck | HSK 7-9 |
| 打倒 | dǎdǎo | to overthrow; to knock down | HSK 7-9 |
| 倒下 | dǎoxia | to collapse; to topple over | HSK 7-9 |
| 倒数 | dàoshǔ | to count backwards (from 10 down to 0); to count down | HSK 7-9 |
| 晕倒 | yūndǎo | to faint; to swoon | HSK 7-9 |
| 倒计时 | dàojìshí | to count down; countdown | HSK 7-9 |
| 倒塌 | dǎotā | to collapse (of building); to topple over | HSK 7-9 |
| 颠倒 | diāndǎo | to turn upside down; to reverse | HSK 7-9 |
| 反倒 | fǎndào | (coll.) but on the contrary; but instead | HSK 7-9 |
| 压倒 | yādǎo | to overwhelm; to overpower | HSK 7-9 |
倒 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 倒
How many strokes are in 倒?
倒 is written with 10 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 倒 mean?
倒 (dǎo) means to fall; to collapse; to lie horizontally; to fail; to go bankrupt; to overthrow. A common word with it is 倒闭 (dǎobì), meaning "to go bankrupt; to close down".
How do you pronounce 倒?
倒 has more than one reading: dǎo and dào. The most common is dǎo, said in the third tone (dipping).
What is the radical of 倒?
The radical of 倒 is 亻, which carries the idea of "man". Dictionaries list 倒 under this radical.
Is 倒 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 倒 is part of the HSK 2 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard, and you are expected to write it by hand from HSK 2.
How do I know whether to say dǎo or dào?
Use dǎo when something falls, collapses, fails, or is swapped, like 倒下 and 倒霉. Use dào when something is turned upside down, poured, reversed, or when it means "but, actually," like 倒水 and 倒数.
What does 倒 mean in a sentence like 他倒不生气?
Here 倒 (dào) is an adverb meaning "contrary to what you would expect." The sentence means "He actually isn't angry," which implies you expected him to be.