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难过 (nán guò) — sad, sorrowful (emotional); unwell, uncomfortable (physical); hard, difficult (of life or circumstances)

Definition

难过 covers both emotional sadness and physical discomfort, plus a loose 'hard/difficult' for tough times — 比 难受 slightly more common. For deep sorrow prefer 悲伤 (more literary); for just 'unwell' use 难受 or 不适.

adjective
sadsorrowful (emotional)unwelluncomfortable (physical)harddifficult (of life or circumstances)

Examples

  • ，难过。
    Tā kǎo shì méi kǎo hǎo, xīn lǐ hěn nán guò.
    He didn't do well on the exam and felt very sad.
  • 难过，。
    Wǒ dù zi yǒu diǎn nán guò, kě néng chī tài duō le.
    My stomach feels a bit uncomfortable; maybe I ate too much.
  • 难过，。
    Nà duàn shí jiān shēng huó hěn nán guò, dàn wǒ men dōu jiān chí xià lái le.
    Life was very hard during that period, but we all persevered.

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
过guòpass

难 (hard) and 过 (pass) suggest something hard to pass through, hence sad or unwell.

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 →

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 過; 过 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
辵辵chuòwalk
Sound part声符shēngfú
咼
咼wāi過guò
Same sound today

The traditional form 過 pairs 辵 (walk) with 咼 as a sound component; the simplified 过 is a shorthand, and its parts are not the historical components.

Open 过 →
Appears in
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