落 luò / là — leave behind; alight; to fall; to drop (behind)
秋天到了，树叶纷纷落下。Qiū tiān dào le, shù yè fēn fēn luò xià.Autumn has come, and the leaves are falling one after another.
Common words: 落后 (luò hòu)、降落 (jiàng luò)、落实 (luò shí)
Meaning Index
Chinese characters meaning "to fall"
Learn Chinese characters with the meaning "to fall", including 落 (luò / là), 倒 (dǎo / dào), 降 (jiàng / xiáng), 掉 (diào), 陷 (xiàn), 跌 (diē). Study pinyin…
How to Study This Meaning Group
The English word "to fall" covers 7 different Chinese characters — 落 (luò / là), 倒 (dǎo / dào), 降 (jiàng / xiáng), 掉 (diào), 陷 (xiàn), 跌 (diē), 摔 (shuāi) — and each is its own word with its own feel. These 7 characters do not share a sound — their readings span luò, là, dǎo, dào, jiàng, xiáng, and more — so confirm the pinyin and tone for each one separately. The example sentences further down show how 落 and the others are actually used, so you learn them in context rather than as a single translation.
- 落 luò / làleave behind; alight; to fall; to drop (behind)Useful words: 落后, 降落
- 倒 dǎo / dàoto fall; to collapse; to topple; to change; to fail; bankruptUseful words: 倒闭, 倒车
- 降 jiàng / xiángto drop; to fall; to come down; to descend; surrenderUseful words: 下降, 降低
- 掉 diàoto drop; to fallUseful words: 去掉, 丢掉
- 陷 xiànto fall; trapUseful words: 陷入, 缺陷
Common words for these 7 "to fall" characters
Anchor each of these 7 characters in a word you can picture — start with 落 (luò / là) — so "to fall" turns into concrete usage instead of a one-to-one translation.
落后luò hòuto fall behind; to lag (in technology etc); backward; to retrogress降落jiàng luòto descend; to land落实luò shípractical; workable; to implement; to carry out倒闭dǎo bìto go bankrupt; to close down倒车dǎo chēto change buses, trains etc倒是dào shicontrary to what one might expect; actually; contrariwise; why don't you下降xià jiàngto decline; to drop; to fall; to go down降低jiàng dīto reduce; to lower; to bring down降落jiàng luòto descend; to land去掉qù diàoto get rid of; to exclude; to eliminate; to remove
See each character in a sentence
Each character below is shown in a short example sentence with pinyin and an English translation — the quickest way to feel the difference between the 7 ways to say "to fall".
倒 dǎo / dào — to fall; to collapse; to topple; to change; to fail; bankrupt
请帮我倒一杯水。Qǐng bāng wǒ dào yì bēi shuǐ.Please pour me a glass of water.
Common words: 倒闭 (dǎo bì)、倒车 (dǎo chē)、倒是 (dào shi)
降 jiàng / xiáng — to drop; to fall; to come down; to descend; surrender
气温突然降了下来。Qì wēn tū rán jiàng le xià lái.The temperature suddenly dropped.
Common words: 下降 (xià jiàng)、降低 (jiàng dī)、降落 (jiàng luò)
掉 diào — to drop; to fall
树上的苹果掉到了地上。Shù shàng de píng guǒ diào dào le dì shàng.The apple on the tree fell to the ground.
Common words: 去掉 (qù diào)、丢掉 (diū diào)、忘掉 (wàng diào)
陷 xiàn — to fall; trap
汽车的轮子陷进了泥里。Qì chē de lún zi xiàn jìn le ní lǐ.The car wheels sank into the mud.
Common words: 陷入 (xiàn rù)、缺陷 (quē xiàn)、陷害 (xiàn hài)
跌 diē — to drop; to fall; to tumble
他不小心跌倒在地上。Tā bù xiǎo xīn diē dǎo zài dì shàng.He accidentally fell to the ground.
Common words: 下跌 (xià diē)、大跌 (dà diē)、看跌 (kàn diē)
摔 shuāi — throw on ground; to fall
他不小心摔了一跤，膝盖擦破了皮。Tā bù xiǎo xīn shuāi le yì jiāo, xī gài cā pò le pí.He accidentally took a fall and scraped his knee.
Common words: 摔倒 (shuāi dǎo)、摔跤 (shuāi jiāo)、摔门 (shuāi mén)
All 7 characters
Open 落、倒、降 or any character below to hear it read aloud and see it used in an example sentence.