难为 (nán wéi) — to be difficult to manage or handle; to put someone in an awkward position; to be a burden on someone

Definition

难为 (nánwei) means to make things hard for someone or put them in an awkward spot — often used in polite thanks like 难为你了 ('sorry to put you through the trouble').

adjective
to be difficult to manage or handleto put someone in an awkward positionto be a burden on someone

Examples

  • 难为，。
    Zhè jiàn shì zhēn nán wéi tā, tā yí gè rén zuò bù wán.
    This task is really hard on him; he can't finish it alone.
  • 难为，。
    nán wéi Nǐ le, zhè me wǎn hái bāng wǒ xiū diàn nǎo.
    Thank you for going to so much trouble — helping me fix my computer so late.
  • 难为，。
    Bié nán wéi hái zi le, tā yǐ jīng hěn nǔ lì le.
    Don't make things hard for the kid; he's already trying very hard.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

难nándifficult
为wèido

难 (difficult) and 为 (do) combine to mean hard to manage or awkward to handle.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 難; 难 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
隹隹zhuībird
Sound part声符shēngfú
暵
暵hàn難nán
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional 難 pairs 隹, a bird, with 暵 for sound, and meant a type of bird. It was later borrowed for other meanings; the modern 难 is a shorthand.

Open 难 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 為; 为 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 為 showed a hand holding an elephant; the simplified 为 is a later shorthand.

Open 为 →

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