Definition
不堪 has two uses: as a verb meaning 'cannot bear' (formal/literary), and as an intensifier placed after a negative adjective to mean 'extremely' (e.g., 贫困不堪). For 'cannot bear', 受不了 is the everyday spoken equivalent; 难堪 focuses on embarrassment/awkwardness. As an intensifier, 十分 is a regular adverb before adjectives, while 不堪 follows the adjective.
cannot bearcannot standextremelyutterly (used after a negative adjective to intensify the degree)
Examples
- ，不堪。Línjū tiāntiān zhuāngxiū, tā bù kān qí rǎo.The neighbor renovates every day, and he can't stand the disturbance.
- 不堪，。Zhège xiǎozhèn pínkùn bù kān, zhìjīn méiyǒu tōng gōnglù.This small town is extremely impoverished; it still doesn't have a paved road.
- ，不堪。Nà bù diànyǐng huàmiàn xuèxīng, bù kān rù mù.That movie has bloody scenes that are unbearable to look at.
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