TongTong
Sign in

艰难 (jiān nán) — difficult, hard, challenging

Definition

艰难 (jiānnán) is the written/formal word for 'arduous' — stronger and more literary than 困难, which is the everyday adjective and can also be a noun. Unlike 艰苦, it foregrounds hardship itself, not harsh conditions.

adjective
difficulthardchallenging

Examples

  • 艰难。
    Chuàng yè de chū qī fēi cháng jiān nán.
    The early stages of starting a business were very difficult.
  • 艰难，。
    Tā men kè fú le gè zhǒng jiān nán, zhōng yú chéng gōng le.
    They overcame all kinds of hardships and finally succeeded.
  • 艰难，。
    Zhè duàn lù hěn jiān nán, dà jiā yào xiǎo xīn zǒu.
    This stretch of road is very rough; everyone needs to walk carefully.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

艰jiānhard
难nándifficult

艰 (hard) and 难 (difficult) reinforce each other to mean very challenging.

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 艱; 艰 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
𦰩𦰩𦰩
Sound part声符shēngfú
艮
艮gèn艱jiān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 艱 pairs 𦰩 for meaning with 艮 for sound; the simplified 艰 is a later abbreviation.

Open 艰 →

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.

Open 难 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6HSK 2.0 Level 6Good & Bad3000 Most Frequent Chinese Words5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

Browse more HSK 6 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.