上下

shàngxià

HSK 5

上下 — shàngxià

1. the top and bottom of something; the full vertical extent

   这幅画的上下都被金色边框装饰。 zhèfú huà de shàngxià dōu bèi jīnsè biānkuāng zhuāngshì — The top and bottom of this painting are decorated with gold frames.

2. to go up and down; to move vertically or repeatedly ascend and descend

   小孩在床上上下跳了好久。 xiǎohái zài chuángshàng shàngxià tiào le hǎojiǔ — The child jumped up and down on the bed for a long time.

3. before and after; the context (as in 上下文 "context")

   要理解那句话的意思要看它的上下文。 yào lǐjiě nàjùhuà de yìsi yào kàn tā de shàngxiàwén — To understand that sentence you need to look at its context.

4. used after a quantity to mean 'approximately'; '... or so'

   这次活动有五十人上下参加。 zhècì huódòng yǒu wǔshí rén shàngxià cānjiā — About fifty people or so attended this event.

5. the high and the low in a social hierarchy; seniors and juniors; all members of a group (as in 举国上下 'the entire nation')

   节日那天举国上下都在庆祝。 jiérì nàtiān jǔguóshàngxià dōu zài qìngzhù — On the holiday the entire nation celebrated.

6. indicating relative equality or parity (as in 不相上下 'evenly matched')

   两队的实力不相上下，胜负难料。 liǎngduì de shílì bùxiāngshàngxià shèngfù nánliào — The two teams are evenly matched; the result is hard to predict.