地步

dìbù

noun HSK 7-9 #4,880

Meanings

1 situation; state; extent (usually negative)
2 condition one has reached

Characters

ground; earth; place

Literally 'the ground one has stepped to' — the point or state one has arrived at.

Examples

事情已经到了无法挽回的地步。

Shìqing yǐjīng dào le wúfǎ wǎnhuí de dìbù.

Things have reached a point of no return.

他怎么会沦落到这个地步？

Tā zěnme huì lúnluò dào zhège dìbù?

How did he end up in this state?

Tips

grammar

地步 almost always follows 到……的地步 (to the point/extent of). It strongly implies a bad or extreme situation — you wouldn't normally use it for positive outcomes.

Stroke Order

地 dì

步 bù