难忘 (nán wàng) — unforgettable | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

verb

unforgettable

难忘。
Zhè cì lǚ xíng ràng wǒ gǎn dào nán wàng.
This trip felt unforgettable to me.
难忘。
Nà ge dì fāng de fēng jǐng lìng rén nán wàng.
The scenery of that place is unforgettable.
难忘。
Tā duì wǒ de bāng zhù wǒ yǒng yuǎn nán wàng.
I will never forget his help to me.

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

难 ('difficult') and 忘 ('forget') together mean something hard to forget.

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.

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

亡心忘

Meaning part形符xíngfú

心心xīnheart

Sound part声符shēngfú

亡

Same sound today

忘 combines 亡, which gives the sound, with 心 (“heart”), showing the sense is about the heart or mind.

Appears in