难
nánTraditional: 难
Translation
difficult, hard
Word origin
A phono-semantic compound originally naming a bird, later borrowed for the sense of difficulty. The bird radical remains on the right.
- Origin
- phono-semantic compound
- Root
- 艮 (component) + 隹 (zhuī, short-tailed bird radical)
Stroke order
难
Examples
。
This question is very hard.
？
Is learning Chinese difficult?
。
Making this decision is hard.
，。
It is hard for those who cannot, easy for those who can.
，。
Though the days are hard, there is hope.
难 (nán) means difficult, hard. In a different tone, nàn, it means disaster, as in 灾难.
Appears in 4 words
Multi-character compounds in the corpus that contain 难.
Used in
Grammar articles
(6)Mandarin Adjectives as Stative Verbs: Why 'I Am Cold' Is 我冷, Not 我是冷
Mandarin Advanced Grammar (C1-C2 / HSK 6+): Chengyu, Classical Remnants, and Register
Mandarin Comparatives: 比, 比较, 最, 跟…一样 and How to Say 'More', 'Most', 'Same As'
Mandarin Conjunctions: 虽然…但是, 因为…所以, 如果…就 and the Paired Structures That Join Clauses
Asking How + Adjective in Mandarin with 多: 多高, 多远, 多长, 多大
Figurative Directional Complements in Mandarin: 起来, 下去 and 出来 Beyond Up, Down and Out
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 queueThis word is part of lesson 24.