下坡路 (xià pō lù) — downhill path (literal); decline, downturn (figurative)

Definition

Literally a 'downhill path' (literal, physical slope), but in 走下坡路 it almost always means 'going downhill' figuratively — a steady decline in health, business, or situation. The verb 走 is fixed; do not swap it.

noun
downhill path (literal)declinedownturn (figurative)
Measure word · 条
Easily confused

Examples

  • 下坡路，。
    Zhè tiáo xià pō lù bù hǎo zǒu, yào xiǎo xīn.
    This downhill path is hard to walk; be careful.
  • 。
    Zuì jìn gōng sī de shēng yì yì zhí zài zǒu xià pō lù.
    The company's business has been going downhill lately.
  • 。
    Tā de jiàn kāng kāi shǐ zǒu xià pō lù le.
    His health has started to go downhill.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

下坡downhill
下xiàdown坡pōslope
动宾Verb + object
路lùroad

下 means down, 坡 means slope, and 路 means road, so the literal sense is a downhill road.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
土土tǔdirt
Sound part声符shēngfú
皮
皮pí坡pō
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

坡 combines 土, shown as dirt, with 皮, a part used for sound.

Open 坡 →

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
足足zú
Sound part声符shēngfú
各
各gè路lù
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

路 combines 足, a foot, with 各, which supplies the sound.

Open 路 →

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