辛苦 (xīn kǔ) — (adjective) exhausting, hard, arduous; (verb) to go to a lot of trouble, to work hard (often in polite expressions like 辛苦了)
Definition
Use 辛苦 when something takes a lot of effort and feels tiring — more emphatic than 累 ('tired'), which is just the feeling. Also a fixed polite phrase: 辛苦了 after someone works for you. 艰苦 / 艰辛 describe hard conditions, not effort itself.
adjective
exhaustinghardarduous
verb
to go to a lot of troubleto work hard (often in polite expressions like 辛苦了)
Examples
- 辛苦。Xué xí hàn yǔ hěn xīn kǔ.Learning Chinese is very hard.
- 辛苦，。Zhè cì lǚ xíng zhēn xīn kǔ, dàn shì hěn kāi xīn.This trip was really exhausting, but I had a great time.
- 辛苦，。xīn kǔ Nǐ le, bāng wǒ ná yí xià xíng li.Thanks for your trouble — help me carry the luggage.
Appears in
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