Meaning of 下午
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- afternoon
- p.m.
Measure word: 個|个
How to use 下午
下午 covers roughly noon to evening and often comes before a clock time, like p.m. in English. In Chinese, time words go before the verb, not at the end of the sentence. Example: 我下午三点上课。(Wǒ xiàwǔ sān diǎn shàngkè.) I have class at 3 p.m.
下 (xià) means below or after, and 午 (wǔ) means noon. So 下午 is the time after noon, just as 上午 (shàngwǔ) is the time before noon.
Common mistake: Learners often mix up 午 (wǔ) with 牛 (niú, cow). In 午 the vertical stroke does not poke through the top, but in 牛 it does. Also keep the order 下午三点, not 三点下午.
下午 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
下 xià · down · 3 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
午 wǔ · noon · 4 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
Related words
Words that share a character with 下午.
| 坐下 | zuò xia | to sit down |
| 下次 | xià cì | next time |
| 下车 | xià chē | to get off or out of (a bus, train, car etc) |
| 楼下 | lóu xià | downstairs |
| 下班 | xiàbān | to finish work; to get off work; next service (train, bus etc) |
| 下雨 | xià yǔ | to rain |
| 午饭 | wǔfàn | lunch |
| 中午 | zhōngwǔ | noon; midday |
| 上午 | shàngwǔ | morning |
| 下课 | xiàkè | to finish class; to get out of class |
| 下边 | xiàbian | under; the underside |
| 一下儿 | yīxiàr | erhua form of 一下[yi1 xia4] |
Questions about 下午
What does 下午 mean?
下午 (xiàwǔ) means "afternoon; p.m." and is used as a noun.
How do you write 下午?
下午 is made of 2 characters: 下 (3 strokes), 午 (4 strokes). That is 7 strokes in total.
Is 下午 an HSK word?
Yes. 下午 is on the HSK 1 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 下午 and 中午?
中午 (zhōngwǔ) is midday, around 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., the lunch period. 下午 is the later part of the day after that, until about 6 p.m.
How do I say this afternoon or yesterday afternoon?
Put the day word in front: 今天下午 (jīntiān xiàwǔ) means this afternoon, and 昨天下午 (zuótiān xiàwǔ) means yesterday afternoon. Chinese time phrases go from the larger unit to the smaller one.