受苦 (shòu kǔ) — to suffer hardship, to endure suffering | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

受苦 means to endure prolonged hardship or suffering, often over a long stretch of life. Unlike 吃苦 ('bear hardship', often voluntary or framed as effort), 受苦 emphasizes passive suffering; 遭罪 focuses on a specific tough situation.

verb

to suffer hardshipto endure suffering

Examples

受苦。
Tā xiǎo shí hou shòu kǔ hěn duō.
He suffered a lot when he was a child.
，。
Tā shòu le yí bèi zi de kǔ, wǎn nián cái guò shàng hǎo rì zi.
She suffered a lifetime of hardship and only lived well in her old age.
，受苦。
Wèi le hái zi, zài shòu kǔ yě zhí dé.
For the children, even more suffering is worth it.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

苦kǔhardship

Enduring hardship gives the sense of suffering.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

爪爪zhuǎhand
舟舟zhōuboat
又又yòuhand

受 possibly combines 爪 and 又 as hands with 舟 as a boat, to show handing something over.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

艸艸cǎograss

Sound part声符shēngfú

古

古gǔ苦kǔ

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The top 艸 shows grass or plants, matching the sense of bitter plants. The bottom 古 gives the sound.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9 Emotions & Feelings

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