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忍耐 (rěn nài) — to endure, to bear with; to exercise patience, to restrain oneself

Definition

忍耐 emphasizes actively holding back one's feelings or reactions over time, often suffering hardship or frustration. It's more active and effortful than the calmer quality 耐心, and more about withstanding than 忍 ('tolerate') or 忍受 ('bear pain').

verb
to endureto bear withto exercise patienceto restrain oneself

Examples

  • ，忍耐。
    Wèi le wán chéng zhè ge xiàng mù, tā bù dé bù rěn nài hěn duō kùn nan.
    To finish this project, she had to endure a lot of difficulties.
  • 忍耐，。
    Nǐ xū yào xué huì rěn nài, bù gāi qīng yì fā pí qi.
    You need to learn to be patient and not lose your temper easily.
  • 忍耐，。
    Tā rěn nài le hěn jiǔ, zuì zhōng hái shì xuǎn zé le lí kāi.
    He endured for a long time, but ultimately chose to leave.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

忍rěnendure
耐nàiendure

忍 and 耐 both convey bearing or enduring, together meaning patience.

Characters in this word

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
心心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
刃
刃rèn忍rěn
Same sound today

忍 combines 心 (heart) and 刃 (blade). The 刃 part provides the sound, and the 心 part is the heart.

Open 忍 →

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
寸寸cùn
Sound part声符shēngfú
而
而ér耐nài
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

耐 puts 而 on the left and 寸 on the right: 而 gives the sound, and 寸 gives the sense.

Open 耐 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Personality & Traits

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