不难 (bù nán) — not difficult, not hard

Definition

Negative form of 难 ('difficult'): just add 不 before the adjective or verb, like in 'not hard to answer'. Common in everyday speech.

adverb

not difficultnot hard

不难。
Zhè ge wèn tí bù nán huí dá.
This question is not difficult to answer.
不难，。
Xué zhōng wén bù nán, zhǐ yào jiān chí.
Learning Chinese is not hard, as long as you persist.
，不难。
Duì tā lái shuō, zhè ge kǎo shì bù nán.
For him, this exam is not difficult.

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.

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.