難 meaning and stroke order
Hard, difficult, arduous; unable
How to write 難, stroke by stroke
19 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
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Meaning of 難
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- difficult (to...)
- problem
- difficulty
- difficult
- not good
- disaster
- distress
- to scold
How 難 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Bird.
隹 gives the meaning and 堇 hints at the sound.
Radical: 隹 (short-tailed bird), shared by 32 characters on this site.
How to remember 難
On the left is 堇 (jǐn), which gives the sound, and on the right is 隹, a short-tailed bird. Picture a bird stuck in heavy clay (堇 contains 土, earth) trying to fly away: it is hard, 難 (nán).
難 (simplified 难) usually goes before a verb to mean "hard to do" or "unpleasant to," as in 难看 (nánkàn, ugly) and 难听 (nántīng, unpleasant to hear). It also appears in words for feelings, like 难过 (nánguò, to feel sad). Example: 这个问题很难。(Zhège wèntí hěn nán.) This question is very hard.
Common mistake: Learners often read every 難 as nán, but it is pronounced nàn when it means disaster, as in 灾难 (zāinàn, disaster) and 难民 (nànmín, refugee). Also, 困难 (kùnnan) is usually said with a neutral tone on the second syllable.
Common words with 難
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 難過 | nánguò | to feel sad; to feel unwell | HSK 2 |
| 難受 | nánshòu | to feel unwell; to suffer pain | HSK 2 |
| 難看 | nánkàn | ugly; unsightly | HSK 2 |
| 難題 | nántí | difficult problem | HSK 2 |
| 難聽 | nántīng | unpleasant to hear; coarse | HSK 2 |
| 難道 | nándào | don't tell me ...; could it be that...? | HSK 3 |
| 困難 | kùnnan | difficult; challenging | HSK 3 |
| 難度 | nándù | degree of difficulty | HSK 3 |
| 難免 | nánmiǎn | hard to avoid; difficult to escape from | HSK 4 |
| 艱難 | jiānnán | difficult; arduous; hard | HSK 5 |
| 災難 | zāinàn | disaster; catastrophe | HSK 5 |
| 難以 | nányǐ | hard to (predict, imagine etc) | HSK 5 |
| 難得 | nándé | seldom; rare | HSK 5 |
| 為難 | wéinán | to feel embarrassed or awkward; to make things difficult (for someone) | HSK 5 |
Characters that contain 難
Learning 難 makes these easier to recognize and write.
Questions about 難
How many strokes are in 難?
難 is written with 19 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 難 mean?
難 (nán) means hard, difficult, arduous; unable. A common word with it is 难过 (nánguò), meaning "to feel sad; to feel unwell".
How do you pronounce 難?
難 is pronounced nán, in the second tone (rising).
What is the radical of 難?
The radical of 難 is 隹, which carries the idea of "short-tailed bird". Dictionaries list 難 under this radical.
What is the simplified form of 難?
難 is a traditional character. Its simplified form is 难, used in mainland China and Singapore.
What is the difference between 难 and 困难?
难 is a short adjective often placed before verbs, like 难做 (hard to do). 困难 is a fuller word that can be an adjective or a noun, so you can say 遇到困难 (yùdào kùnnan, run into difficulties), where 难 alone would sound odd.
How is 难道 used in a sentence?
难道 (nándào) starts a rhetorical question and shows surprise or disbelief, often ending with 吗. For example, 难道你不知道吗？(Nándào nǐ bù zhīdào ma?) Don't tell me you didn't know.