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

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 [Hokkien]  ―  sió-tán--chi̍t-ē [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  wait a moment

   我寫了一篇文章，想請您給我指點一下。 [MSC, trad.]
   我写了一篇文章，想请您给我指点一下。 [MSC, simp.]

   Wǒ xiě le yī piān wénzhāng, xiǎng qǐng nín gěi wǒ zhǐdiǎn yīxià. [Pinyin]

   I wrote an article and would like to ask you to give me some advice.

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. 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. (Sichuanese) entirely; completely
6. (Sichuanese) in all; in total

Synonyms

• (give something a go):

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

Variety	Location	Words edit
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		一下
Northeastern Mandarin	Taiwan	一下, 看看
	Malaysia	一下
	Singapore	一下
Cantonese	Guangzhou	下
	Hong Kong	下
	Macau	下
	Kuala Lumpur (Guangfu)	下
	Singapore (Guangfu)	下
Southern Min	Xiamen	看覓
	Quanzhou	看覓
	Zhangzhou	看覓
	Taipei	看覓
	Kaohsiung	看覓
	Penang (Hokkien)	看覓
	Singapore (Hokkien)	看覓, 一下
	Manila (Hokkien)	覓, 看覓, 一下
	Chaozhou	睇, 下睇
	Shantou	一下
	Singapore (Teochew)	睇
Wu	Shanghai	看, 一記, 一下 often with non-monosyllabic verbs
	Suzhou	看, 一下
	Ningbo	看

• (suddenly):

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• 一下子 (yīxiàzi)
• 一舉／一举 (yījǔ)
• 一頭／一头 (yītóu)
• 乍然 (zhàrán) (literary)
• 倏忽 (literary)
• 卒爾／卒尔 (cù'ěr) (literary)
• 忽地 (hūdì)
• 忽然 (hūrán)
• 𢫦𢫦風／𢫦𢫦风 (Hakka)
• 暫／暂 (zàn) (literary)
• 猛 (měng)
• 猝然 (cùrán)
• 猛然 (měngrán)
• 猝爾／猝尔 (cù'ěr) (literary)
• 突然 (tūrán)
• 突然間／突然间 (tūránjiān)
• 豁然 (huòrán) (literary)
• 遽然 (jùrán) (literary)
• 陡 (dǒu) (literary, or in compounds)
• 陡然 (dǒurán)
• 霍然 (huòrán)
• 頓／顿 (literary)
• 頓然／顿然 (dùnrán)
• 驀地／蓦地
• 驀然／蓦然 (mòrán) (formal)
• 驟然／骤然 (zhòurán) (literary)

 

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

Variety	Location	Words edit
Classical Chinese		突然, 忽然, 猝然
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		突然, 忽然, 猛然, 驀地, 乍然, 倏忽, 驟然, 猝然, 突然間, 冷不防, 一下, 一下子
Northeastern Mandarin	Beijing	忽然間, 冒猛地, 冒猛子, 冒冷子, 乍猛地, 乍乍地, 乍麼實兒, 虎拉巴兒, 一下兒, 一下子
	Taiwan	突然, 忽然, 突然間, 忽然間
	Singapore	突然, 忽然, 突然間, 忽然間
Jianghuai Mandarin	Yangzhou	突乎其然
Cantonese	Guangzhou	突然, 突然間, 突然之間, 失驚無神, 失驚忘神
	Hong Kong	突然, 突然間, 突然之間, 忽然, 忽然間, 忽然之間, 失驚無神, 失雞無神, 一下
	Hong Kong (San Tin Weitou)	忽然間
	Taishan	突然之間
	Kuala Lumpur (Guangfu)	突然
Gan	Nanchang	突然
Hakka	Meixian	玄工, 玄玄風, 突然
	Miaoli (N. Sixian)	突然間, 忽然間
	Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian)	突然間, 忽然間
	Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu)	突然間, 忽然間
	Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu)	突然間, 忽然間
	Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping)	突然間, 忽然間
	Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an)	突然
	Hong Kong	陣時間
	Senai (Huiyang)	陣間
Northern Min	Jian'ou	臨陣, 三不臨陣
Southern Min	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, 喝一下
	Tainan	突然間, 忽然間, 雄雄, 無張持
	Penang (Hokkien)	雄險
	Singapore (Hokkien)	突然間, 忽然間
	Manila (Hokkien)	忽然間
	Shantou	突然
	Johor Bahru (Teochew)	突然
Wu	Shanghai	著生頭裡, 著陌生頭, 著陌生裡, 著末生頭, 辣陌生頭, 辣末生頭, 辣末生裡, 冷陌生頭, 突然之間, 突然, 忽聲能
	Wenzhou	單下

• (Min Nan) 一下仔

References

• “Entry #4”, in 教育部臺灣台語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwan Minnan] (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2024.

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