Dictionary › 倒

倒

dǎo

Old HSK 5 HSK 3.0 character level 4 Character

倒 (dǎo) means "to fall down; to collapse". It is an HSK 3.0 level 4 word, and was HSK 5 in the old six-level list.

What 倒 means

1. to fall; to collapse; to lie horizontally
2. to fail; to go bankrupt
3. to overthrow
4. to change (trains or buses)
5. to move around
6. to resell at a profit

How 倒 is used in grammar

倒 is a grammar word. Each link goes to its own section: what it does in that pattern, the structure, three example sentences with pinyin, and the mistake to avoid.

• 却/倒: unexpected contrast (HSK 4)

Other readings

倒 is 多音字 — it is read more than one way, and the reading changes the meaning.

• dàoto invert; to place upside down or frontside back; to pour out; to tip out; to dump

Example sentences

• 我怕摔倒。
  I'm afraid to fall.
• 他砍倒树。
  He felled the tree.
• 他摔倒在地。
  Tā shuāidǎo zàidì.
  He fell to the floor.
• 他倒霉极了。
  Tā dǎoméi jíle.
  He is shit out of luck.
• 他倒霉透了。
  Tā dǎoméi tòu le.
  He is shit out of luck.
• 他被对手击倒
  He was knocked down by his opponent

Words starting with 倒

• 倒霉dǎo méito have bad luck; to be out of luck
• 倒闭dǎo bìto go bankrupt; to close down
• 倒是dào shicontrary to what one might expect; actually; contrariwise
• 倒下dǎo xiàto collapse; to topple over
• 倒退dào tuìto fall back; to go in reverse
• 倒塌dǎo tāto collapse (of building); to topple over
• 倒数dào shǔto count backwards (from 10 down to 0); to count down; from the bottom (lines on a page)
• 倒地dǎo dìto fall to the ground
• 倒头dǎo tóuto lie down; to die
• 倒影dào yǐnginverted image; reversed image (e.g. upside down)
• 倒像dào xiàng(optics) inverted image
• 倒流dào liúto flow backwards; reverse flow
• 倒车dào chēto reverse (a vehicle); to drive backwards
• 倒计时dào jì shíto count down; countdown
• 倒卖dǎo màito resell at a profit; to speculate
• 倒台dǎo táito fall from power; to collapse; downfall
• 倒立dào lìa handstand; to turn upside down; to stand on one's head
• 倒挂dào guàlit. to hang upside down; fig. topsy-turvy and inequitable, e.g. manufacturing and…
• 倒映dào yìngto reflect (producing an inverted image)
• 倒爷dǎo yé(colloquial) a profiteer; (business) wheeler-dealer
• 倒转dào zhuàn(of time, or a video clip etc) to run in reverse; Taiwan pr. dào zhuǎn
• 倒腾dǎo tengto move; to shift; to exchange
• 倒把dǎo bǎto play the market; to speculate (on financial markets); to profiteer
• 倒置dào zhìto invert

Words containing 倒

• 反倒fǎn dào(colloquial) but on the contrary; but instead
• 颠倒diān dǎoto turn upside down; to reverse; back to front
• 打倒dǎ dǎoto overthrow; to knock down; Down with ... !
• 晕倒yūn dǎoto faint; to swoon; to black out
• 摔倒shuāi dǎoto fall down; to slip and fall; to throw sb to the ground
• 跌倒diē dǎoto tumble; to fall; fig. to suffer a reverse (in politics or business)
• 压倒yā dǎoto overwhelm; to overpower; overwhelming
• 推倒tuī dǎoto push over; to overthrow
• 昏倒hūn dǎoto faint
• 倾倒qīng dǎoto topple over; to fall over; to greatly admire; to prostrate oneself before
• 病倒bìng dǎoto fall ill; to be stricken with an illness
• 撞倒zhuàng dǎoto knock down; to knock over; to run over (sb)
• 潦倒liáo dǎodown on one's luck; in straitened circumstances; disappointed; frustrated
• 击倒jī dǎoto knock down; knocked down
• 拉倒lā dǎo(colloquial) forget it; drop it; let it go; to pull down
• 东倒西歪dōng dǎo xī wāito lean unsteadily from side to side (idiom); to sway…
• 放倒fàng dǎoto knock over; to knock down; to lay flat; to fell; to bring down
• 跪倒guì dǎoto kneel down; to sink to one's knees; to grovel
• 扑倒pū dǎoto fall down
• 吓倒xià dǎoto be frightened
• 栽倒zāi dǎoto take a fall
• 绊倒bàn dǎoto trip; to stumble
• 醉倒zuì dǎoto pass out drunk
• 躺倒tǎng dǎoto lie down

Characters that look like 倒

Easy to confuse on sight. Compare them side by side once and the pair stops costing you.

• 钢gāngsteel
• 悯mǐnto sympathize; to pity; to feel compassion for; (literary) to feel sorrow; to be grieved
• 恫dòngfrighten
• 胴dònglarge intestine; torso
• 惘wǎngdisappointed; perplexed
• 翎língtail feathers; plume

Sounds the same

Read dǎo, tone for tone, but written differently.

• 导to transmit; to lead; to guide
• 岛island
• 蹈to tread on; to trample; to stamp
• 捣to pound; to beat; to hull
• 祷prayer; pray; supplication
• 壔column; cylinder
• 擣stir; to pound
• 禂to pray; prayer
• 嶋variant of 岛; used as second component of Japanese names with phonetic value -shima or…
• 嶌variant of 岛; used in Japanese names with reading -shima or -jima

Where 倒 is taught

In the GraphChinese course it is part of Motion, Physical Action & Sport (HSK 5), each one a topic in the dependency graph of HSK 1–6 that opens only once its prerequisites are solid.

Go deeper

• Every HSK 5 word, with the rest of its level.
• How characters are built from components.
• How to learn Chinese characters.
• The four tones and the neutral tone, to read dǎo correctly.
• Look up another word in the free dictionary.