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掉diàoto fall; to drop

HSK 4word

By Chinese Copilot · Last updated

掉 (diào) means "to fall" or "to drop," as in 书掉在地上了 (The book fell on the floor) and 杯子掉了 (The cup fell), and is used after certain verbs to express completion, as in 他把饭吃掉了 (He ate up the food). This entry covers these two senses, each shown with its own examples below.

What does 掉 mean?

  1. 1.

    to fall; to dropverb

  2. 2.

    used after certain verbs to express completion, fulfillment, removal etc

What does the character 掉 mean?

  • 掉to fall; to drop

How do you use 掉?

See it in 书掉在地上了, 杯子掉了 and 他把饭吃掉了.

What are some examples of 掉 in a sentence?

  1. 书掉在地上了。

    Shū diào zài dì shang le.

    The book fell on the floor.

  2. 杯子掉了。

    Bēizi diào le.

    The cup fell.

  3. 他把饭吃掉了。

    Tā bǎ fàn chī diào le.

    He ate up the food.

  4. 我把水喝掉了。

    Wǒ bǎ shuǐ hē diào le.

    I drank up the water.

How is 掉 used in a conversation?

  1. Speaker A:

    你的书掉了。

    Nǐ de shū diào le.

    Your book fell.

  2. Speaker B:

    在哪儿?

    Zài nǎr?

    Where?

  3. Speaker A:

    在椅子下面。

    Zài yǐzi xiàmiàn.

    Under the chair.

  4. Speaker B:

    谢谢你!

    Xièxie nǐ!

    Thank you!

Can you use 掉 correctly?

0 of 3 answered
  1. 1.Fill in the blank: 书___在地上了。 (The book fell on the floor.)
  2. 2.What does 他把饭吃掉了。 mean?
  3. 3.What does 掉 mean in 杯子掉了?

What should you learn next?

English glosses on this page are adapted from CC-CEDICT, published by MDBG (snapshot 2026-10-23), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Glosses were edited for learners.