To Get Lower
To Go Down, To Come Down, To Hang Down
intransitive verb, godan verb
This word consists of kanji with hiragana attached. Because the hiragana ends with an う sound, you know this word is a verb. The kanji means below, and 下がる means to get lower or to go down.
It's an intransitive verb, so it doesn't take a direct object. For example: Prices fall. Temperatures come down. See? No direct object. You can remember this because your fever only goes down when a girl (がる) takes care of you. It has to be a girl if you want your fever to come down!
Since this word has okurigana (hiragana attached to the kanji) you know that it's probably going to be the kun'yomi reading. Let's use a mnemonic to remember the reading of the kanji:
You know it means to fall so instead of using a saw (さ) to cut down the tree, you decide to let it come to you. It has to come down all by itself. Picture yourself placing a saw at the foot of a tree then sitting back and waiting for it to drop itself at your knees. (This could actually work, don't you judge my methods!)
うしろに下がる
to go backwards, to step back
半分に下がる
to go halfway down
下に下がる
to go down
少し下がる
to lower a little
さらに下がる
to go further down
どんどん下がる
to go lower and lower
レベルが下がる
the level goes down
コストが下がる
costs go down
モチベーションが下がる
motivation goes down
雨の日は気分が下がる。
My mood is lower on rainy days.
すみません。ジーンズが下がってパンツが見えてますよ。
Excuse me. Your jeans are hanging down and I can see your panties.
去年からスコアが下がった。
Scores have dropped since last year.