落地生根

luòdì-shēnggēn

idiom

Meanings

1 to put down roots
2 to settle down permanently
3 (of a policy or idea) to take firm hold locally

Characters

to fall; to land

to grow; to bring forth

Examples

HSK 3

他来北京二十年了，早已落地生根。

Tā lái Běijīng èrshí nián le, zǎoyǐ luòdì-shēnggēn.

He's been in Beijing for twenty years and has long since put down roots.

HSK 7-9

这项政策必须在基层落地生根才能见效。

Zhèxiàng zhèngcè bìxū zài jīcéng luòdì-shēnggēn cáinéng jiànxiào.

This policy must take root at the grassroots level to be effective.

Tips

culture

There is also a real plant called 落地生根 (Bryophyllum pinnatum, the 'air plant') whose fallen leaves sprout new plants wherever they land - the literal image behind the idiom.

usage

Two main senses: (1) a person settling permanently in a new place, (2) an abstraction (policy, idea, technology) being adopted deeply at the local level. Context tells you which.

Stroke Order

落 luò

地 dì

生 shēng

根 gēn