How to say “painful” in Chinese
painful; suffering
“Painful” in Chinese is 痛苦, tòng kǔ: the meaning, a recording of how it sounds, the characters stroke by stroke.
How to pronounce it
痛苦 is read tòng 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, 疒 “illness”. Inside, 甬 — as in 通 tōng: it hints at the sound.
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 “痛苦”.
More words from the lesson “Waiting”
Look up another word in the Chinese–English dictionary: in English, in pinyin or in characters.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say “painful” in Chinese?
“Painful” in Chinese is 痛苦, pinyin tòngkǔ.
What does 痛苦 mean?
痛苦 (tòngkǔ) means “painful; suffering”.
How do you write 痛苦?
痛苦 is 2 characters: 痛 (tòng) — painful; pain; 苦 (kǔ) — bitter; hard. The stroke order of each one is shown step by step on this page.
How do you pronounce 痛苦?
痛苦 is read tòngkǔ. Tones: tòng — fourth tone, kǔ — third tone. The page has a native speaker recording.
“painful” in the lesson “Waiting”
This word is from the topic “Feelings” 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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