Meaning of 之下
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- under
- beneath
- less than
How to use 之下
之下 comes after a noun or phrase to mean "under" a thing, a condition, or someone's leadership. It is more formal and written than 下面 (xiàmian) and often appears in set patterns like 在……之下. Example: 在老师的帮助之下，他进步很快。(Zài lǎoshī de bāngzhù zhīxià, tā jìnbù hěn kuài.) With the teacher's help, he improved quickly.
之 (zhī) is a classical word like "of", and 下 (xià) means below, so 之下 is literally "below of" something. Picture a noun sitting on top and 之下 marking everything underneath it.
Common mistake: Learners sometimes put 之下 before the noun, as in English "under the tree". It must follow the noun: 树之下 (shù zhīxià), not 之下树. Also, 之下 is usually not used for casual physical locations in speech, where 下面 or 底下 sounds more natural.
之下 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.
之 zhī · possessive particle · 3 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
下 xià · down · 3 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
Related words
Words that share a character with 之下.
| 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 之下
What does 之下 mean?
之下 (zhīxià) means "under; beneath" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 之下?
之下 is made of 2 characters: 之 (3 strokes), 下 (3 strokes). That is 6 strokes in total.
Is 之下 an HSK word?
Yes. 之下 is on the HSK 5 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 之下 and 以下?
之下 usually means under a thing or a condition, like 压力之下 (under pressure). 以下 (yǐxià) is mainly used for numbers and lists, meaning "below" or "the following", like 十岁以下 (under ten years old).
What does 一怒之下 mean?
一怒之下 (yí nù zhīxià) means "in a fit of anger". It is a fixed expression showing 之下 used for a state or situation, not a physical place. Example: 他一怒之下走了。He left in a fit of anger.