难 (nán): difficult (to...), problem, difficulty
难 (nán) is a Chinese character meaning “difficult (to...).” Classified as HSK Level 3 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 又 (structural) and 隹 (structural). It ranks #295 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 难 a hand 又 trying to grasp at a bird 隹. Its radical form 隹 (short-tailed bird) appears in many related characters such as 集 (jí, to gather), 雄 (xióng, male), 雀 (qiāo, a freckle).
Definitions
- difficult (to...)
- problem
- difficulty
Etymology & Origin
ideographicA hand 又 trying to grasp at a bird 隹
Decomposition: ⿰又隹 (layout: left-right)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 难 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 难
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 难道adverb | nán dào | don't tell me ... | 4 |
| 困难adjective/noun | kùn nan | difficult | 4 |
| 难过adjective | nán guò | to feel sad | 3 |
| 难以verb | nán yǐ | hard to (predict, imagine etc) | 5 |
| 艰难adjective | jiān nán | difficult | 6 |
| 灾难noun | zāi nàn | disaster | 6 |
| 难受adjective | nán shòu | to feel unwell | 4 |
| 难忘verb | nán wàng | unforgettable | 4 |
| 难度noun | nán dù | degree of difficulty | 5 |
| 为难adjective/verb | wéi nán | to feel embarrassed or awkward | 6 |
| 难得adjective | nán dé | seldom | 5 |
| 难题noun | nán tí | difficult problem | 3 |
| 难免adjective | nán miǎn | hard to avoid | 6 |
| 难看 | nán kàn | ugly | 3 |
| 难听adjective | nán tīng | unpleasant to hear | 3 |
| 难点noun | nán diǎn | difficulty | 6 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 难堪 | nán kān | hard to take |
| 难怪 | nán guài | (it's) no wonder (that...) |
| 难关 | nán guān | difficulty |
| 避难所 | bì nàn suǒ | a refuge |
| 难民 | nàn mín | refugee |
| 苦难 | kǔ nàn | suffering |
| 难为情 | nán wéi qíng | embarrassed |
| 遇难 | yù nàn | to perish |
| 避难 | bì nàn | to take refuge |
| 难闻 | nán wén | unpleasant smell |
| 磨难 | mó nàn | a torment |
| 受难 | shòu nàn | to suffer a calamity |
| 难民营 | nàn mín yíng | refugee camp |
| 难说 | nán shuō | hard to tell (i.e. hard to judge or hard to predict) |
| 难吃 | nán chī | unpalatable |
难 appears in 100 compound words: 47 as the first character, 49 as the last, and 4 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 难 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (51)
to create innumerable obstacles; to make things difficult for; to create obstructions of every description
cannot walk a step; difficult to move forward; difficult to make headway
the numerous disasters may bring the people of a country together to revive the country
cannot walk a step; difficult to move forward; difficult to make headway
to create innumerable obstacles; to make things difficult for; to create obstructions of every description
the numerous disasters may bring the people of a country together to revive the country
Showing 12 of 51 idioms containing 难.
Example Sentences
面对困难时，我们要保持乐观的心态，相信自己能克服。
Miàn duì kùnnán shí, wǒmen yào bǎochí lèguān de xīntài, xiāngxìn zìjǐ néng kèfú.
When facing difficulties, we must maintain an optimistic attitude and believe we can overcome them.
业界倡上调基本免税额一成 预算案料难大派糖 吁多照顾打工仔
yè jiè chàng shàng diào jī běn miǎn shuì é yī chéng yù suàn àn liào nán dà pài táng xū duō zhào gù dǎ gōng zǐ
The industry advocates raising the basic tax allowance by 10%, and the budget is expected to be difficult to distribute sugar and call for more care for workers
和股票与储蓄帐户不同 出售实物白银很难吗
hé gǔ piào yǔ chǔ xù zhàng hù bù tóng chū shòu shí wù bái yín hěn nán ma
And unlike stocks and savings accounts, is it hard to sell physical silver?
...控人春节前被拘,这家基金公司“问题股东”难题待解
. . . kòng rén chūn jié qián bèi jū , zhè jiā jī jīn gōng sī wèn tí gǔ dōng nán tí dāi xiè
... Controller detained before the Spring Festival, the fund company's "problem shareholders" problem to be solved
米兰冬奥|“热爱可敌万难”,徐梦桃成功卫冕,五届奥..
mǐ lán dōng ào rè ài kě dí mò nán , xú mèng táo chéng gōng wèi 冕 , wǔ jiè ào . .
Milan Winter Olympics | "Love can conquer all difficulties", Xu Mengtao successfully defended her title, five-time o...
泽连斯基表示遭袭击越多越难达成协议
zé lián sī jī biǎo shì zāo xí jī yuè duō yuè nán dá chéng xié yì
Zelenskyy stated that the more attacks there are, the harder it becomes to reach an agreement.
英文比日文更难吗？
Yīngwén bǐ Rìwén gèng nán ma?
Is English more difficult than Japanese?
谁解决了这个难题？
Shéi jiějué le zhège nántí?
Who solved the hard problem?
你难以理解女人和小孩子对你说的话吗？
Nǐ nányǐlǐjiě nǚrén hé xiǎoháizi duì nǐ shuō dehuà ma?
Do you have difficulty understanding what women or small children say to you?
难道他可以买一把刀，而我就不行了？
Nándào tā kěyǐ mǎi yī bǎ dāo, ér wǒ jiù bùxíngle?
If it's okay for him to buy a knife, then why on earth can't I?
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 难 (nán) mean in Chinese?
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What are the components of 难?
What are common words containing 难?
What characters sound the same as 难 (nán)?
Is 难 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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