(kě lián) - pitiful, poor, pathetic in Mandarin
kěliánTraditional: 可憐
Translation
pitiful, poor, pathetic
Word origin
可怜 means pitiful or poor. 可 (kě) means worthy of or able. 怜 (lián) means to pity, a phono-semantic compound with the 忄 'heart' radical and phonetic 令 (lìng); simplified from 憐.
- Origin
- compound
- Root
- 可 (kě, worthy of) + 怜 (lián, to pity)
Stroke order
可
怜
Examples
。
That little cat is really pitiful.
境。
His situation is really pathetic.
。
Don't pity me.
。
This little child is so pitiful.
。
His salary is pitifully low.
可怜 (kě lián) means pitiful, poor, pathetic. It is used as an adjective in everyday Mandarin speech.
Where this fits
Add to review queue
Track this word in your spaced-repetition queue and be tested on it at the right interval.
Go to my review queueMandarin · Free printables
可怜: worksheet, infographic and listicle
Free printable study downloads for the Mandarin word "可怜" (pitiful, poor, pathetic): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.
Free for members
The printable worksheets, infographics and PDFs are free with an account. Start a free week and download as many as you like.
Start your free weekThis word is part of lesson 17.