Expressing "difficult" with "nan"

难 (nán) is an adjective that means "difficult." When something is "hard to do" (as in difficult), the word 难 (nán) can be used before the verb.

难 (nán) with General Verbs

Just as 好 (hǎo) can be used to indicate that it's easy to do something, 难 (nán) can be attached to verbs (with a few special exceptions), to indicate that something is hard to do.

Structure

The structure is:

Subj. + (很) 难 + Verb

Examples

• 这 句 话 很 难 懂。 Zhè jù huà hěn nán dǒng. This sentence is hard to understand.
• 汉语 很 难 学。Hànyǔ hěn nán xué. Mandarin is hard to learn.
• 中国菜 很 难 做。Zhōngguó cài hěn nán zuò. Chinese food is hard to make.
• 这 个 东西 现在 很 难 买。Zhège dōngxi xiànzài hěn nán mǎi. This thing is really difficult to purchase now.
• 这 个 汉字 很 难 写。Zhège Hànzì hěn nán xiě. This character is very difficult to write.

难 (nán) with Sense Verbs

难 (nán) can also be attached to "sense verbs" (e.g. look, taste, smell, etc.) to indicate that something offers a "bad sensory experience."

Structure

The structure is:

Subj. + (很) 难 + [Sense Verb]

Examples

• 你 做 的 菜 很 难吃。Nǐ zuò de cài hěn nánchī. The dishes you cook taste bad.
• 这里 的 咖啡 很 难喝。Zhè lǐ de kāfēi hěn nánhē. The coffee here tastes bad.
• 这 首 歌 很 难听。Zhè shǒu gē hěn nántīng. This song is terrible (This song is hard to listen to).
• 这 种 花 很 难闻。Zhè zhǒng huā hěn nánwén. This kind of flower smells bad.
• 这 件 衣服 很 难看吗？Zhè jiàn yīfu hěn nánkàn ma? Is this article of clothing ugly?

Warning! If you're trying to say that a particular dish is "difficult to eat," don't use 难吃 (nánchī)! The word 难吃 (nánchī) only means "bad-tasting" and not "difficult to eat."

See also

• Using "hao" to mean "easy"
• Expressing Difficulty with "hao (bu) rongyi"

Sources and further reading

Books

• Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Part 2 (3rd ed) (p. 232) →buy