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.

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