一下

Chinese

		one; single; a one; single; a; (before verbs) as soon as, once; (before a noun) entire (family, etc.)	under; next; lower under; next; lower; below; underneath; down(wards); to go down; latter
simp. and trad. (一下)		一	下
alternative forms		一吓 Cantonese

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Standard)

  (Pinyin): yīxià

  (Zhuyin): ㄧ ㄒㄧㄚˋ

  (Chengdu, SP): yi² ha⁴

• Cantonese (Jyutping): jat¹ haa⁵
• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): yit-ha
• Min Nan

  (Hokkien, POJ): chi̍t-ē / chi̍t-ēe / chi̍t-lē

  (Teochew, Peng'im): zêg⁸ ê⁷

• Wu (Wiktionary): iq hho (T4)

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Pinyin: yīxià [Phonetic: yíxià] → yīxia (toneless final syllable variant)
    • Zhuyin: ㄧ ㄒㄧㄚˋ → ㄧ ˙ㄒㄧㄚ (toneless final syllable variant)
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: i.shiah
    • Tongyong Pinyin: yisiå
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /i⁵⁵⁻³⁵ ɕjä⁵¹/ → /i⁵⁵ ɕjä²/
      
  • (Standard Chinese, erhua-ed) (一下兒／一下儿)⁺
    • Pinyin: yīxiàr [Phonetic: yíxiàr]
    • Zhuyin: ㄧ ㄒㄧㄚˋㄦ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: ishiall
    • Tongyong Pinyin: yisiàr
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /i⁵⁵⁻³⁵ ɕjɑɻ⁵¹/
  • (Chengdu)
    • Sichuanese Pinyin: yi² ha⁴
    • Scuanxua Ladinxua Xin Wenz: ixa
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /i²¹ xa²¹³/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
    • Jyutping: jat¹ haa⁵
    • Yale: yāt háh
    • Cantonese Pinyin: jat⁷ haa⁵
    • Guangdong Romanization: yed¹ ha⁵
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jɐt̚⁵ häː¹³/
• Hakka
  • (Northern Sixian, incl. Miaoli)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: yit-ha
    • Hakka Romanization System: id` ha
    • Hagfa Pinyim: yid<sup>5</sup> ha<sup>4</sup>
    • Sinological IPA: /it̚² ha⁵⁵/
  • (Southern Sixian, incl. Meinong)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: yit-ha
    • Hakka Romanization System: (r)id` ha
    • Hagfa Pinyim: yid⁵ ha⁴
    • Sinological IPA: /(j)it̚² ha⁵⁵/
• Min Nan
  • (Hokkien: Quanzhou, General Taiwanese, Xiamen)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chi̍t-ē
    • Tâi-lô: tsi̍t-ē
    • Phofsit Daibuun: cid'e
    • IPA (Xiamen): /t͡ɕit̚⁴⁻³² e²²/
    • IPA (Taipei, Kaohsiung): /t͡ɕit̚⁴⁻³² e³³/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /t͡ɕit̚²⁴⁻²² e⁴¹/
  • (Hokkien: Zhangzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chi̍t-ēe
    • Tâi-lô: tsi̍t-ēe
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /t͡ɕit̚¹²¹⁻²¹ ɛ²²/
  • (Hokkien: variant in Taiwan)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chi̍t-lē
    • Tâi-lô: tsi̍t-lē
    • Phofsit Daibuun: cidle
    • IPA (Taipei, Kaohsiung): /t͡ɕit̚⁴⁻³² le³³/
  • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: zêg⁸ ê⁷
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: tse̍k ē
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sek̚⁴⁻² e¹¹/
• Wu
  • (Shanghainese)
    • Wiktionary: iq hho (T4)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /i̯ɪʔ³³ ɦo⁴⁴/

Adverb

一下

1. one time; once

   他打了我一下。  ―  Tā dǎ le wǒ yīxià.  ―  He hit me once.

2. a (short) while; a moment

   等一下  ―  děng yīxià  ―  wait a moment

   休息一下  ―  xiūxī yīxià  ―  rest a while

   抱一下  ―  bào yīxià  ―  give a quick hug

   小等一下 [Min Nan]  ―  sió-tán--chi̍t-ē [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  wait a moment

3. give something a go; give something a try

   看一下  ―  kàn yīxià  ―  take a look

   聞一下 / 闻一下  ―  wén yīxià  ―  try smelling it

   • 對於文化問題，我是門外漢，想研究一下，也方在開始。 [MSC, trad.]
     对于文化问题，我是门外汉，想研究一下，也方在开始。 [MSC, simp.]

     From: 1940, 毛澤東 (Mao Zedong), 《新民主主義論》 (On New Democracy), 《毛澤東選集》. English translation based on the Foreign Languages Press edition

     Duìyú wénhuà wèntí, wǒ shì ménwàihàn, xiǎng yánjiū yīxià, yě fāng zài kāishǐ. [Pinyin]

     I am a layman in matters of culture; I would like to study them, but have only just begun to do so.

4. (Cantonese) suddenly; all at once

   你一下噉問，我真係唔知點答你喎。 [Cantonese, trad.]
   你一下噉问，我真系唔知点答你㖞。 [Cantonese, simp.]

   Nei⁵ jat¹ haa⁵ gam² man⁶, ngo⁵ zan¹ hai⁶ m⁴ zi¹ dim² daap³ nei⁵ wo³. [Jyutping]

   Your question just came all at once. I really don't know how to answer you.

5. (Sichuan) entirely; completely
6. (Sichuan) in all; in total

Synonyms

Dialectal synonyms of 一下 (“give something a go; give something a try”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		一下
Mandarin	Taiwan	一下, 看看
	Malaysia	一下
	Singapore	一下
Cantonese	Guangzhou	下
	Hong Kong	下
	Macau	下
	Kuala Lumpur	下
	Singapore	下
Min Nan	Xiamen	看覓
	Quanzhou	看覓
	Zhangzhou	看覓
	Taipei	看覓
	Kaohsiung	看覓
	Singapore (Hokkien)	看覓
	Chaozhou	睇
	Shantou	一下
	Singapore (Teochew)	睇

Dialectal synonyms of 突然 (“suddenly”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		突然, 忽然, 猛然, 驀地, 乍然, 倏忽, 驟然, 猝然, 突然間
Mandarin	Beijing	突然, 忽然
	Taiwan	突然, 忽然
Cantonese	Guangzhou	突然間, 忽然間, 一下, 無啦啦
	Hong Kong	突然間, 忽然間, 一下, 無啦啦
	Hong Kong (San Tin Weitou)	忽然間
	Kuala Lumpur	突然
Hakka	Miaoli (N. Sixian)	突然間, 忽然間, 好恬恬
	Liudui (S. Sixian)	突然間, 忽然間, 好恬恬仔
	Hsinchu (Hailu)	突然間, 忽然間, 好恬恬
	Dongshi (Dabu)	突然間, 忽然間, 好恬恬
	Hsinchu (Raoping)	突然間, 忽然間, 好恬恬
	Yunlin (Zhao'an)	突然, 好定泥
	Hong Kong	陣時間
	Senai	陣間
Min Nan	Xiamen	突然, 忽然, 暴其然, 無張無持, 無張持
	Quanzhou	突然, 忽然, 無張無持, 無張持
	Zhangzhou	突然, 忽然, 暴其然, 無張無持, 無張持
	Taipei	突然, 忽然, 雄雄, 無張持
	Penang (Hokkien)	雄險
	Johor Bahru (Teochew)	突然
Wu	Wenzhou	單下

• (Min Nan) 一下仔

Derived terms

• 皮一下 (pí yīxià)

• 等一下 (děng yīxià)

References

• “Entry #4”, in 臺灣閩南語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwan Minnan] (in Chinese and Min Nan), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2011.