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难受 (nán shòu) — uncomfortable, feeling unwell (physically); painful, hard to bear (emotionally)

Definition

难受 covers both physical discomfort ('feeling unwell') and emotional pain ('hard to bear'). Use 痛苦 for deeper, more prolonged suffering; 难过 is more purely 'sad'.

adjective
uncomfortablefeeling unwell (physically)painfulhard to bear (emotionally)

Examples

  • ，难受。
    Tā gǎn mào le, shēn tǐ hěn nán shòu.
    He caught a cold and his body feels very uncomfortable.
  • ，难受。
    Tīng dào zhè huà, wǒ xīn lǐ hěn nán shòu.
    Hearing this, I feel very bad inside.
  • 难受。
    Zhè zhǒng tòng kǔ tài nán shòu le.
    This kind of pain is too hard to bear.

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.

难nánhard
受shòubear

难 (hard) and 受 (bear) mean hard to bear, hence unwell or painful.

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.

Open 难 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

受 possibly combines 爪 and 又 as hands with 舟 as a boat, to show handing something over.

Open 受 →
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