地下室 meaning in English

dìxiàshì

basement; cellar

HSK 6noun18 strokes

Meaning of 地下室

Definitions from CC-CEDICT.

dìxiàshì

basement
cellar

How to use 地下室

地下室 is the normal word for a basement or cellar in a house or building, often used for storage or parking. Example: 我们把旧家具放在地下室了。(Wǒmen bǎ jiù jiājù fàng zài dìxiàshì le.) We put the old furniture in the basement.

Break it into three parts: 地 (dì) ground, 下 (xià) below, 室 (shì) room. A room below the ground is a basement.

Common mistake: Learners sometimes write 地下是 because 室 (shì) and 是 (shì) sound the same. Remember 室 has the roof radical 宀 on top, which fits a room.

地下室 in example sentences

Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.

我wǒ知zhī道dào我wǒ把bǎ它tā放fàng在zài地dì下xià室shì的de某mǒu个gè地dì方fāng了le。

I know I left it somewhere down here in the basement.

我wǒ意yì识shí到dào这zhè个ge可kě怕pà的de地dì下xià室shì是shì唯wéi一yī可kě以yǐ救jiù我wǒ们men命mìng的de地dì方fāng。

I realized then that this awful cellar was the only place that could save our lives.

地dì下xià室shì里lǐ的de信xìn号hào很hěn差chà。

Reception in the cellar is very poor.

他tā们men从cóng地dì下xià室shì到dào阁gé楼lóu都dōu打dǎ扫sǎo了le。

They cleaned everything, from the basement to the attic.

警jǐng察chá认rèn为wéi窃qiè贼zéi从cóng地dì下xià室shì窗chuāng口kǒu进jìn入rù。

The police think the burglar entered through a basement window.

Stroke order for each character

Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.

地 de · -ly · 6 strokes

下 xià · down · 3 strokes

室 shì · room · 9 strokes

Related words

Words that share a character with 地下室.

地方	dìfang	region; regional (away from the central administration)
坐下	zuò xia	to sit down
下次	xià cì	next time
下午	xiàwǔ	afternoon; p.m.
地上	dìshang	on the ground; on the floor
地点	dìdiǎn	place; site
下车	xià chē	to get off or out of (a bus, train, car etc)
地图	dìtú	map
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

Questions about 地下室

What does 地下室 mean?

地下室 (dìxiàshì) means "basement; cellar" and is used as a noun.

How do you write 地下室?

地下室 is made of 3 characters: 地 (6 strokes), 下 (3 strokes), 室 (9 strokes). That is 18 strokes in total.

Is 地下室 an HSK word?

Yes. 地下室 is on the HSK 6 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.

What does 地下 mean on its own?

地下 (dìxià) means underground, as in 地下车库 (dìxià chēkù) underground garage. Note that 地下 read as dìxia with a neutral tone can mean on the floor, similar to 地上 (dìshang).

How do you say which basement level, like B1 or B2?

Use 地下 plus a number and 层 (céng), for example 地下一层 (dìxià yī céng) for B1 and 地下二层 (dìxià èr céng) for B2. In elevators you will usually just see B1 or B2 written.