How to say “hard” in Chinese
hard, arduous
“Hard” in Chinese is 艰苦, jiān kǔ: the meaning, a recording of how it sounds, the characters stroke by stroke and examples.
How to pronounce it
艰苦 is read jiān kǔ: 2 syllables. The tone is part of the word: with another melody you get another word, or just a jumble of sounds.
How to write it
On top, 艹 “grass” — a bitter herb; at the bottom, 古 gǔ hints at the sound.
Strokes go in order: top to bottom and left to right, horizontal before vertical. Tap a character to open its page, with the strokes shown large and the words it appears in. To train your hand, print a handwriting sheet for “艰苦”.
Examples
Sentences from the course lessons with 艰苦. Tap the sound icon to listen.
- 那里的工作条件非常艰苦nàlǐdegōngzuòtiáojiànfēichángjiānkǔThe working conditions there are very harsh.
More words from the lesson “Earning a living”
Look up another word in the Chinese–English dictionary: in English, in pinyin or in characters.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say “hard” in Chinese?
“Hard” in Chinese is 艰苦, pinyin jiānkǔ.
What does 艰苦 mean?
艰苦 (jiānkǔ) means “hard, arduous”.
How do you write 艰苦?
艰苦 is 2 characters: 艰 (jiān) — hard, difficult; 苦 (kǔ) — bitter; hard. The stroke order of each one is shown step by step on this page.
How do you pronounce 艰苦?
艰苦 is read jiānkǔ. Tones: jiān — first tone, kǔ — third tone. The page has a native speaker recording.
“hard” in the lesson “Earning a living”
This word is from the topic “Work” of HSK 5. In the lesson you hear it in a dialogue, build a sentence with it and say it out loud. Start for free, no sign-up needed.
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