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下场 (xià chǎng) — (noun) end, outcome (usually negative), fate

Definition

下场 is a 'final outcome' with a negative slant — the bad end someone gets. 结果 is neutral; 命运 emphasizes predestined, cosmic fate.

noun
endoutcome (usually negative)fate
Easily confused

Examples

  • ，下场。
    Tā zuò jìn huài shì, zuì zhōng méi yǒu hǎo xià chǎng.
    He did all kinds of bad things and ended up with no good outcome.
  • 下场。
    Lì shǐ shàng xǔ duō dú cái zhě de xià chǎng dōu hěn bēi cǎn.
    In history, many dictators met a miserable end.
  • ，下场。
    Rú guǒ jì xù zhè yàng xià qù, tā de xià chǎng kě xiǎng ér zhī.
    If he keeps on like this, his fate is easy to imagine.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

下xiàleave
场chǎngstage

下 means to leave or go down, and 场 is the stage or field, so the word names leaving that place.

Characters in this word

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

下 is drawn as a short horizontal line below a long curved line.

Open 下 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 場; 场 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
土土tǔearth
Sound part声符shēngfú
昜
昜yáng場chǎng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 場 pairs 土 (earth) with 昜 as a sound part; the simplified 场 is a later abbreviation, so its parts do not have that historical role.

Open 场 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Abstract Concepts

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