叫苦 (jiào kǔ) — to complain about hardship, to grumble about difficulties

Definition

叫苦 (jiàokǔ) means 'to complain about hardship' — a set verb phrase, always used as a unit. Unlike 抱怨 (bàoyuàn), which targets people or situations in general, 叫苦 specifically focuses on suffering or difficulty.

verb
to complain about hardshipto grumble about difficulties

Examples

  • ，叫苦。
    Gōng zuò tài lèi, tā tiān tiān jiào kǔ.
    The work is too tiring; he complains about hardship every day.
  • ，。
    Dà jiā dōu méi jiào guò kǔ, yì zhí jiān chí dào jié shù.
    No one complained about hardship; they kept going until the end.
  • ，。
    Tā jiào le yì tiān de kǔ, shuō yāo téng dé bù xíng.
    He complained about hardship all day, saying his back hurt terribly.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

叫jiàocry
苦kǔhardship

叫 (cry) and 苦 (hardship) combine to mean cry out about difficulties.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
口口kǒumouth
Sound part声符shēngfú
丩
丩jiū叫jiào
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

叫 shows a mouth 口 and a sound part 丩. The mouth fits the old sense of shouting.

Open 叫 →

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
艸艸cǎograss
Sound part声符shēngfú
古
古gǔ苦kǔ
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The top 艸 shows grass or plants, matching the sense of bitter plants. The bottom 古 gives the sound.

Open 苦 →

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