Meaning of 坐下
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- to sit down
How to use 坐下
坐下 is the everyday way to tell someone to take a seat, often softened with 请 (qǐng) or 吧 (ba). The 下 adds the idea of moving downward into the seat. Example: 请坐下。(Qǐng zuò xia.) Please sit down.
坐 (zuò) shows two people 人 sitting on the ground 土, and 下 (xià) means down. Put them together and two people are lowering themselves onto the ground: sit down.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 坐 (zuò, to sit) with 座 (zuò, seat), which has an extra 广 on top. Use 坐下 for the action and 座位 (zuòwèi) for the seat itself. Also, 下 here is usually light and toneless (xia), not a full fourth tone.
坐下 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.
坐 zuò · to sit · 7 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
下 xià · down · 3 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
Related words
Words that share a character with 坐下.
| 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 |
| 请坐 | qǐng zuò | please, have a seat |
| 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 坐下
What does 坐下 mean?
坐下 (zuò xia) means "to sit down".
How do you write 坐下?
坐下 is made of 2 characters: 坐 (7 strokes), 下 (3 strokes). That is 10 strokes in total.
Is 坐下 an HSK word?
Yes. 坐下 is on the HSK 1 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 坐 and 坐下?
坐 can mean sitting as a state, as in 他坐在那儿 (Tā zuò zài nàr), He is sitting there. 坐下 stresses the moment of going from standing to sitting.
Can I put words between 坐 and 下?
Yes. You can say 坐得下 (zuò de xià), there is room to sit, or 坐不下 (zuò bu xià), there is not enough room. You can also add a place: 坐下来 (zuò xia lai) or 在这儿坐下 (zài zhèr zuò xia), sit down here.