How to say “bitter” in Chinese
bitter; hard
“Bitter” in Chinese is 苦, kǔ: the meaning, a recording of how it sounds, the characters stroke by stroke and examples.
How to pronounce it
苦 is read kǔ. 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 “苦”.
Examples
Sentences from the course lessons with 苦. Tap the sound icon to listen.
- 这份工作很辛苦zhèfèngōngzuòhěnxīnkǔThis job is hard work.
- 师傅辛苦了shīfu,xīnkǔleThank you for your hard work, master!
- 你们一路辛苦了！nǐmenyílùxīnkǔleYou must all be tired from the trip!
- 那里的工作条件非常艰苦nàlǐdegōngzuòtiáojiànfēichángjiānkǔThe working conditions there are very harsh.
- 父母这么辛苦为的是孩子的前途fùmǔzhèmexīnkǔ,wèideshìháizideqiántúThe parents work this hard for their children's future.
- 你辛苦了！nǐxīnkǔleYou’ve worked so hard!
More characters by topic — happiness, luck, strength, nature — on the page “Chinese characters with meanings”.
More words from the lesson “Sour, Spicy, Salty”
Look up another word in the Chinese–English dictionary: in English, in pinyin or in characters.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say “bitter” in Chinese?
“Bitter” in Chinese is 苦, pinyin kǔ.
What does 苦 mean?
苦 (kǔ) means “bitter; hard”.
How do you write 苦?
苦 is 1 character. The stroke order of each one is shown step by step on this page.
How do you pronounce 苦?
苦 is read kǔ. Tones: kǔ — third tone. The page has a native speaker recording.
“bitter” in the lesson “Sour, Spicy, Salty”
This word is from the topic “Food and Cooking” of HSK 4. 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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