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降低 (jiàng dī) — to reduce, to lower, to bring down

Definition

Transitive verb: a person/agent actively brings something down (price, temperature, requirements, speed). Unlike 减少, which focuses on quantity/number decreasing, 降低 takes qualities or levels as its object.

verb
to reduceto lowerto bring down

Examples

  • ，降低。
    Wèi le ān quán, qǐng jiàng dī sù dù.
    For safety, please reduce speed.
  • 降低。
    Lǎo shī jiàng dī le duì chéng jì de yāo qiú.
    The teacher lowered the requirements for grades.
  • 降低。
    Wǒ men jiàng dī le fáng jiān de wēn dù.
    We lowered the temperature of the room.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
补充bǔchōngVerb + complement

An action followed by its result or direction.

降jiànglower
低dīlow

降 (lower) and 低 (low) together mean make something lower.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
阝Written in full as阜fùhill, wall
Sound part声符shēngfú
夅
夅jiàng降xiáng
Same sound today

降 pairs 阝 (a hill or wall, written in full as 阜) with 夅, a sound part meaning 'to descend'; together they picture descending a hill.

Open 降 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
亻Written in full as人rénman, person
Sound part声符shēngfú
氐
氐dī低dī
Same sound today

In 低, the left side 亻 is a person, and the right side 氐 gives the sound; the image is a person lowering or bowing themselves.

Open 低 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 4HSK 2.0 Level 4Change & Process

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