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难关 (nán guān) — difficulty, crisis; a hurdle or barrier that must be overcome

Definition

难关 (nán guān) is a noun meaning a specific hurdle or barrier to be overcome — something you pass through or break through. Unlike 困难 (general 'difficulty' or hardship), 难关 is a single concrete obstacle, often technical, economic, or life-defining.

noun
difficultycrisisa hurdle or barrier that must be overcome
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • ，难关。
    Miàn duì jīng jì wēi jī, tā men yì qǐ dù guò le nán guān.
    Faced with the economic crisis, they got through the difficulty together.
  • ，难关。
    Zhǐ yào dà jiā tuán jié yí zhì, jiù méi yǒu guò bú qù de nán guān.
    As long as everyone is united, no difficulty is insurmountable.
  • 难关。
    Tā huā le sān nián shí jiān cái tū pò le zhè ge jì shù nán guān.
    It took him three years to break through this technical difficulty.

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
关guānbarrier

难 means difficult and 关 means pass or barrier; a difficult barrier is a hurdle.

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 →

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 關; 关 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
門門méndoor
Sound part声符shēngfú
𢇅
𢇅𢇅關guān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

For 关, the traditional form 關 shows 門 as a door and 𢇅 as two wooden sticks locking it, with ring-like marks on top.

Open 关 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Abstract Concepts

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.