Meaning of 下来
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- to come down
- (completed action marker)
- (after verb of motion, indicates motion down and towards us, also fig.)
- (indicates continuation from the past towards us)
- to be harvested (of crops)
- to be over (of a period of time)
- to go among the masses (said of leaders)
How to use 下来
下来 works alone as a verb, but it is most often added after another verb to show motion downward toward the speaker, or that something gets fixed, recorded, or continues to the present. In this complement use it is usually said in the neutral tone, xialai. Example: 请把电话号码写下来。(Qǐng bǎ diànhuà hàomǎ xiě xiàlai.) Please write the phone number down.
下 (xià) means down and 来 (lái) means come, so 下来 is simply "come down" toward the speaker. Picture someone on a ladder climbing down to where you stand.
Common mistake: Learners often mix up 下来 and 下去 (xiàqu). 下来 moves toward the speaker or toward a stopping point, while 下去 moves away or keeps going, as in 说下去 (keep talking). Another slip is giving 来 a full second tone in complements like 坐下来, where it is normally light.
下来 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
来 lái · to come · 7 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
Related words
Words that share a character with 下来.
| 回来 | huílái | to return; to come back |
| 起来 | qǐlái | to stand up; to get up; also pr. [qi3lai2] |
| 出来 | chūlái | to come out; to appear |
| 进来 | jìnlái | to come in |
| 来到 | láidào | to arrive; to come |
| 坐下 | zuò xia | to sit down |
| 下次 | xià cì | next time |
| 下午 | xiàwǔ | afternoon; p.m. |
| 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 |
Questions about 下来
What does 下来 mean?
下来 (xiàlái) means "to come down; (completed action marker)".
How do you write 下来?
下来 is made of 2 characters: 下 (3 strokes), 来 (7 strokes). That is 10 strokes in total.
Is 下来 an HSK word?
Yes. 下来 is on the HSK 3 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 下来 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 下来 is written 下來.
Where does the object go with 下来?
A place object goes between 下 and 来, as in 走下楼来 (walk down the stairs). A thing object can also go there, or you can move it in front of the verb with 把, as in 把衣服脱下来 (take off the clothes).
What does 下来 mean in sentences like 天黑下来了 or 安静下来?
After adjectives, 下来 shows a change into a calmer, slower, or darker state. 天黑下来了 means it has gotten dark, and 安静下来 means to quiet down.