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不堪 (bù kān) — cannot bear, cannot stand; extremely, utterly (used after a negative adjective to intensify the degree)

Definition

不堪 means 'cannot bear' (a state or situation) and also intensifies a negative adjective to mean 'extremely' (贫困不堪 = extremely impoverished). Compare 难堪 ('embarrassed / awkward') and 受不了 ('can't stand' an ongoing annoyance).

cannot bearcannot standextremelyutterly (used after a negative adjective to intensify the degree)

Examples

  • ，不堪。
    Lín jū tiān tiān zhuāng xiū, tā bù kān qí rǎo.
    The neighbor renovates every day, and he can't stand the disturbance.
  • 不堪，。
    Zhè ge xiǎo zhèn pín kùn bù kān, zhì jīn méi yǒu tōng gōng lù.
    This small town is extremely impoverished; it still doesn't have a paved road.
  • ，不堪。
    Nà bù diàn yǐng huà miàn xuè xīng, bù kān rù mù.
    That movie has bloody scenes that are unbearable to look at.

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.

不bùnot
堪kānbear

不 expresses not, and 堪 expresses bear, so together they mean cannot bear or extremely.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The picture in 不 originally showed a flower’s calyx; the “no” sense came later from a related character, not from this picture.

Open 不 →

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
土土tǔearth
Sound part声符shēngfú
甚
甚shèn堪kān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The left part 土 is earth. The right part 甚 gives the sound and also hints at something extreme, matching the old idea of a heavy earthen protrusion whose weight one bears.

Open 堪 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Comparison & DegreeEmotions & Feelings

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