Chinese word

困难

Pronunciation

Pinyinkùn nán

Meaning

  • noundifficulty

Example

我们遇到了困难。wǒ men yù dào le kùn nán

We ran into difficulties.

Illustration for 困难 (difficulty)

More examples

家里有困难，他开始打工。jiā lǐ yǒu kùn nán tā kāi shǐ dǎ gōng

The family was having difficulties, so he started working part-time.

Core concept

An obstacle that makes a task or goal hard to carry through and may call for extra time, skill, or help.

Common phrases

  • 遇到困难yù dào kùn nán

    encounter difficulties

  • 生活困难shēng huó kùn nán

    face hardship in life

  • 克服困难kè fú kùn nán

    overcome hardship

Similar words

问题wèn tí: A question or matter that calls for an answer or solution.
麻烦má fán: A bothersome matter that creates trouble, extra effort, or a need for help.
难题nán tí: A challenging problem that takes considerable time or skill to solve.
困境kùn jìng: A disadvantageous situation from which outside conditions make escape difficult.

Definition in Chinese

表示事情在处理或实现过程中遇到的难题或障碍，通常需要时间、技巧或他人帮助才能解决的阻碍性情况。biǎo shì shì qíng zài chú lǐ huò shí xiàn guò chéng zhōng yù dào de nán tí huò zhàng ài tōng cháng xū yào shí jiān jì qiǎo huò tā rén bāng zhù cái néng jiě jué de zǔ ài xìng qíng kuàng

Word origin

困难 (kùnnán, "difficulty") combines 困 (kùn, "trapped") + 难 (nán, "difficult"), joining the image of being unable to move freely with the idea that something is not easy to do.

Usage tips

  • In everyday Chinese, 很 (hěn, "very") can describe a difficult state, while 遇到 (yùdào, "encounter") introduces a difficulty as a noun.

Other meanings

  • difficultadjective
  • problemnoun

Word lists with this word