难办 (nán bàn) — hard to handle; difficult to deal with

Definition

adjective

hard to handledifficult to deal with

难办，。
Zhè jiàn shì hěn nán bàn, wǒ men dé màn màn lái.
This matter is very hard to handle; we have to take it slowly.
难办，。
Nà ge kè hù de wèn tí què shí nán bàn, wǒ hái zài xiǎng bàn fǎ.
That client's problem is indeed difficult to deal with; I'm still trying to figure it out.
难办。
Tā jué de gēn xīn tóng shì hé zuò yǒu diǎn nán bàn.
He feels it's a bit hard to cooperate with the new colleague.

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.

难nándifficult

The characters 难, meaning difficult, and 办, meaning handle, combine to mean hard to deal with.

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 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.

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 辦; 办 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

力力lìstrength

Sound part声符shēngfú

辡

辡biàn辦bàn

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 辦 combines 力 (strength) with 辡, which gives the sound; the simplified 办 is a later shorthand.