dǎo

Traditional: 倒

HSK 4
#503 of 5,000 Core 1000

Translation

to fall over, to pour; contrary to expectation; upside down

Stroke order

Stroke order for 倒

Examples

fēngshù

The wind was too strong, and the tree fell over.

bēi

Please pour me a glass of water.

He is actually a good person, just too busy.

bēi

The cup has fallen over.

bēichá

Please pour me a cup of tea.

倒 has two main pronunciations. As dǎo (3rd tone) it means to fall over, topple, or collapse; it also means to go bankrupt or to change (vehicles). As dào (4th tone) it means to pour, to invert, or to move backwards. In a third common use, dào functions as an adverb meaning on the contrary or actually, introducing a fact that runs counter to expectations - this concessive use is very common in everyday speech.

Related words

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This word is part of lesson 11.