困难困難 kùnnan — difficult; difficulty, hardship
kùnnan (fourth tone, falling)kun4nan
Traditional: 困難
difficult; difficulty, hardship
HSK 4· HSK 1–4 (classic)adjectivenounMeasure word 个
Meanings
difficult; difficulty, hardship
困, trapped, and 难, hard — heavier than the plain adjective 难, and often a noun in its own right: 遇到困难, to run into difficulty; 克服困难, to overcome one. A whole situation is 困难; one small hard word is simply 难.
adjective
Example sentences
- 他家生活很困难，需要大家的帮助。他家生活很困難，需要大家的幫助。Tā (first tone, high and level) jiā (first tone, high and level) shēnghuó (first tone, high and level) hěn (third tone, dipping) kùnnan, (fourth tone, falling) xūyào (first tone, high and level) dàjiā (fourth tone, falling) de (neutral tone) bāngzhù. (first tone, high and level)···
His family’s life is very hard — they need everyone’s help.
- 不管遇到什么困难，他都不害怕。不管遇到什麼困難，他都不害怕。Bùguǎn (fourth tone, falling) yùdào (fourth tone, falling) shénme (second tone, rising) kùnnan, (fourth tone, falling) tā (first tone, high and level) dōu (first tone, high and level) bú (second tone, rising) hàipà. (fourth tone, falling)···
No matter what difficulty he runs into, he’s never afraid.
Common mistakes
Not quite这个字很困难。
Correct这个字很难。
For something simply hard — a character, a question — the plain adjective 难 is natural. 困难 is heavier, usually a noun for a substantial problem (经济困难, 生活困难) or a solemn adjective for a whole situation, not for one small item.