Chinese word

疼

Pronunciation

Pinyinténg

Meaning

  • verbhurt

Example

我一碰那儿就疼。wǒ yí pèng nàr jiù téng

It hurts whenever I touch that spot.

Illustration for 疼 (hurt)

More examples

我一走路，脚就会疼。wǒ yì zǒu lù jiǎo jiù huì téng

Whenever I walk, my foot hurts.

Core concept

A body part feels an unpleasant pain or ache, either steadily or in short bursts.

Common phrases

  • 肚子疼dǔ zi téng

    have a stomachache

  • 头疼tóu téng

    have a headache

  • 脚疼jiǎo téng

    have a sore foot

Similar words

痛tòng: To feel a sharp or strong pain in a part of the body.
心疼xīn téng: To feel sorry for and worry about a person or animal.
疼爱téng ài: To care for a child or animal with deep affection and tenderness.

Definition in Chinese

表示身体某一部持续或间歇性地感到疼痛，多用作动词，主语通常为身体部位。biǎo shì shēn tǐ mǒu yí bù chí xù huò jiàn xiē xìng dì gǎn dào téng tòng duō yòng zuò dòng cí zhú yǔ tōng cháng wèi shēn tǐ bù wèi

Word origin

疼 (téng, "hurt") is a phono-semantic character: 疒 (nè, "illness") points to bodily discomfort, while 冬 (dōng, "winter") mainly supplies the sound.

Usage tips

  • Chinese often makes the painful body part the subject, while English commonly puts the person first in phrases such as "my leg hurts"; noticing this difference helps build natural sentences.

Other meanings

  • painfuladjective
  • acheverb

Word lists with this word