Meaning of 下雪
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- to snow
How to use 下雪
下雪 is the everyday way to say it is snowing. Chinese uses 下 for weather that falls from the sky, so you also hear 下雨 (xià yǔ) for rain. Example: 外面下雪了。(Wàimiàn xià xuě le.) It is snowing outside.
下 (xià) means down, and 雪 (xuě) is snow, which sits under the rain radical 雨 at the top. Picture snow coming down from the sky: 下雪 is literally "snow comes down."
Common mistake: Learners often say 雪下 or try to use 雪 alone as a verb, but the natural order is 下雪, just like 下雨. Also watch the tones: 下 is fourth tone and 雪 is third tone (xià xuě), not xuē.
下雪 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
雪 xuě · snow · 11 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
Related words
Words that share a character with 下雪.
| 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 |
| 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] |
| 留下 | liúxia | to leave behind; to stay behind |
| 放下 | fàngxia | to lay down; to put down; to let go of; to relinquish; to set aside |
Questions about 下雪
What does 下雪 mean?
下雪 (xià xuě) means "to snow".
How do you write 下雪?
下雪 is made of 2 characters: 下 (3 strokes), 雪 (11 strokes). That is 14 strokes in total.
Is 下雪 an HSK word?
Yes. 下雪 is on the HSK 2 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How do I say it snowed a lot or there was heavy snow?
Put a measure or description between the parts: 下大雪 (xià dà xuě) means heavy snow, and 下了一场雪 (xià le yì cháng xuě) means there was a snowfall. The verb 下 and the noun 雪 can be separated this way.
Why is 了 so often added after 下雪?
下雪了 (xià xuě le) signals a new situation, meaning it has started snowing. Without 了, 下雪 just names the event, as in 明天会下雪 (míngtiān huì xià xuě), it will snow tomorrow.