倒 (dǎo) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

倒

dǎo[dao3]Tone 3

to fall, to collapse, to go bankrupt, to change or transfer

HSK 2

Multiple Readings (多音字):

Guru Deep Dive

English · to fall, to collapse, to go bankrupt, to change or transfer

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Topology:Left-right

Strokes:10

Writing Balance Rule: The left side (person radical) is narrow and upright, while the right side (to arrive/reach) is wide and stable, balancing the overall character.

1. Meaning

to fall or to collapse

to fail or go bankruptto overthrowto transfer or change vehiclesto resell at a profit or speculate

VerbNeutral#action#state change#business#movement

Sample Usage

小心，别摔倒了！
xiǎoxīn, bié shuāidǎo le!
Be careful, don't fall down!
这家公司去年倒闭了。
zhè jiā gōngsī qùnián dǎobì le.
This company went bankrupt last year.

2. Sound

/[tɑʊ̯²¹⁴]/Tone: 214

倒

dǎodao3

ˇ(214)

=dǎo

Initial Consonant

Type: Unaspirated Alveolar

Sounds like: d sound as in English 'dog'

Unaspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: No puff of air. Tissue remains still (sounds like English 't' in 'stop').

Tongue & Mouth Position: Tongue tip pressed against the alveolar ridge behind the upper front teeth, releasing cleanly without a puff of air.

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -a vowel group

Sounds like: -ao rhymes with 'ow' in cow

Mouth Shape Guide: Pronounce as standalone vowel 'ow'.

Common Learner Trap: Keep vowel quality steady across all 4 tone contours.

Tone

T3 (214)

2 → 1 → 4 (214)

3rd Tone (Low-Dipping)

Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 3 dips down like a hesitant question mark before rising back up.

Sandhi: When followed by another Tone 3 syllable, dǎo changes to a Tone 2 (35) rising pitch, becoming dáo.

👂

Listening trap: Confusing the low dipping tone 3 with tone 4 (falling), which completely changes meanings in related words.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: Trace a checkmark in the air: dip down low from your chest and sweep slightly upward.

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 10 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The left side (person radical) is narrow and upright, while the right side (to arrive/reach) is wide and stable, balancing the overall character.

4. Components

Radical 亻 · Person Radical (human, person)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 亻 (Relates to human action or posture)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 到 (original sound: dao)

A person (亻) reaches a destination or arrives (到), but in this case, things tip over or fall down.

亻 person
到 to arrive / phonetic component providing the sound dao

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

2· Phonetic Root: 到 (dào)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Originally formed by combining the person radical (亻) with the phonetic and directional element 到 (to arrive), later specialized to mean tumbling over or falling.

Semantic Evolution: From the physical act of a person tumbling or falling down, the meaning expanded metaphorically to business failure (bankruptcy) and logistical transfers.

The character shares its sound and root origin with 到, showing how phonetic loans shaped Chinese characters.

6. Sinosphere

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

A **person** (亻) arrives (**到**) running too fast and ends up **falling** (倒) flat on their face.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

到

dàoto arriveUses the same right-hand phonetic part with the knife/reach radical.

堎

lèngridgeShares phonetic elements but with different semantic radicals.

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

到(dào)

到 uses the sword/blade radical on the right (刂) meaning arrival, while 倒 uses the person radical on the left (亻) meaning falling.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

小心地上的水，别摔[___]了。

Clue: dǎo

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing the tone when used as a verb (dǎo - to fall) versus its directional/resultative complement usage (dào - toward/to).

Memory Prompts

Recognition: When you see 倒 meaning 'to fall' or 'to collapse', what is its Pinyin and tone?

Production: How do you write the character for 'to fall or collapse' with 10 strokes starting from the person radical?

倒dǎoto fall, to collapse, to go bankrupt, to change or transfer

Speed:

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