降 (jiàng): to drop, to fall, to come down
降 (jiàng) is a Chinese character meaning “to drop.” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 阝 (semantic) and 夅 (phonetic). It ranks #744 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 降 hill. Its radical form 阝 (mound) appears in many related characters such as 那 (nà, (specifier) that), 都 (dōu, all), 院 (yuàn, courtyard).
Definitions
- to drop
- to fall
- to come down
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 降 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 降
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 降落verb | jiàng luò | to descend | 4 |
| 下降verb | xià jiàng | to decline | 4 |
| 降低verb | jiàng dī | to reduce | 4 |
| 降温verb | jiàng wēn | to become cooler | 4 |
| 降价verb | jiàng jià | to cut the price | 4 |
| 降水verb | jiàng shuǐ | rain and snow | 5 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 投降 | tóu xiáng | to surrender |
| 降临 | jiàng lín | to descend |
| 降落伞 | jiàng luò sǎn | parachute |
| 从天而降 | cóng tiān ér jiàng | (idiom) to fall from the sky |
| 降生 | jiàng shēng | to be born |
| 迫降 | pò jiàng | to force a plane to land |
| 升降机 | shēng jiàng jī | aerial work platform (e.g. cherry picker or scissor lift) |
| 降级 | jiàng jí | to demote |
| 升降 | shēng jiàng | rising and falling |
| 降职 | jiàng zhí | to demote (to a lower rank) |
| 降解 | jiàng jiě | (chemistry) degradation |
| 空降 | kōng jiàng | to drop from the sky |
| 降雨 | jiàng yǔ | precipitation |
| 降压 | jiàng yā | to reduce the pressure (of a fluid) |
| 降格 | jiàng gé | to downgrade |
降 appears in 90 compound words: 49 as the first character, 31 as the last, and 20 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 降 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (7)
to happen all of a sudden; to happen out of the blue; to come out of nowhere
joy from heaven (idiom); overjoyed at unexpected good news; unlooked-for happy event
to recruit surrendered enemy and deserters (idiom); to gather together a gang of villains
to happen all of a sudden; to happen out of the blue; to come out of nowhere
joy from heaven (idiom); overjoyed at unexpected good news; unlooked-for happy event
Example Sentences
写好降字需要掌握正确的笔画顺序。
xiě hǎo jiàng zì xū yāo zhǎng wò zhēng què de bǐ huà shùn xù .
To write the character "降" correctly, one must master the proper stroke order.
每天喝咖啡和茶 失智风险最高降三成
měi tiān hē kā fēi hé chá shī zhì fēng xiǎn zuì gāo jiàng sān chéng
Drinking coffee and tea every day reduces the risk of dementia by up to 30%
被困晴空塔升降机长达5个半小时 约20人全部获救
bèi kùn qíng kōng tǎ shēng jiàng jī cháng dá 5 gè bàn xiǎo shí yuē 2 0 rén quán bù huò jiù
Trapped in the Skytree lift for five and a half hours, about 20 people were rescued
通膨上升、减重药热销 美食品业降价吸引顾客回流
tōng péng shàng shēng , jiǎn chóng yào rè xiāo měi shí pǐn yè jiàng jià xī yǐn gù kè huí liú
Inflation rises, weight loss drugs are hot, and the price reduction of the US food industry attracts customers to return
局地降温超20°C!降温继续南下,南方多地降雨...
jú dì jiàng wēn chāo 2 0 C ! jiàng wēn jì xù nán xià , nán fāng duō dì jiàng yǔ . . .
The local cooling exceeded 20°C! The cooling continued to move south, and it rained in many places in the south...
未必是坏事!南马降级成精英标 马拉松将回归体验本质
wèi bì shì huài shì ! nán mǎ jiàng jí chéng jīng yīng biāo mǎ lā sōng jiāng huí guī tǐ yàn běn zhì
It's not necessarily a bad thing! South Malaysia is relegated to an elite marathon and will return to the essence of experience
时光流转，死亡突降。
Shíguāng liúzhuǎn, sǐwáng tū jiàng.
Time turns, death strikes.
我们要向这个怪兽投降吗？
Wǒmen yào xiàng zhège guàishòu tóuxiáng ma?
Are we going to surrender to these monsters?
萨米只有投降一途
Sà mǐ zhǐyǒu tóuxiáng yī tú
Sami had no choice but to surrender.
由于产量过剩，卷心菜的价格下降了。
Yóuyú chǎnliàng guòshèng, juǎnxīncài de jiàgé xiàjiàng le.
The price of cabbage fell because of overproduction.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 降 (jiàng) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 降 and 起?
How many strokes does 降 have?
What is the radical of 降?
What are the components of 降?
What are common words containing 降?
What characters sound the same as 降 (jiàng)?
Is 降 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 降 with real-time feedback
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