Expressing "difficult" with "nan"

难 (nán) is an adjective that means "difficult." But in addition, whenever something is "hard to do" (as in difficult) or "bad to do" (as in bad experience), the word 难 (nán) can be used.

难 with General Verbs

Structure

Just as 好 (hǎo) can be used to indicate that it's easy to do something, 难 (nán) can be attached to verbs, except sensitive words, to indicate that something is hard to do. The structure is:

Subj. + (很) 难 + Verb

Examples

• 难 懂 Nán dǒng Hard to understand
• 这 句 话 很 难 懂。 Zhè jù huà hěn nán dǒng. This sentence is hard to understand.
• 难 学Nán xué Hard to learn
• 汉语 很 难 学。Hànyǔ hěn nán xué. Mandarin is hard to learn.
• 难 做Nán zuò Hard to do
• 中国菜 很 难 做。Zhōngguócài hěn nán zuò. Chinese food is hard to make.
• 难 买Nán mǎi Hard to buy (as in probably hard to find).
• 这 个 东西 现在 很 难 买。Zhè ge dōngxī xiànzài hěn nán mǎi. This thing is really difficult to purchase now.
• 难 写Nán xiě Difficult to write
• 这 个 汉字 很 难 写。Zhè ge hànzì hěn nán xiě. This character is very difficult to write.

难 with Sense Verbs

Structure

难 (nán) can also be attached to "sense verbs" (e.g. look, taste, smell, etc.) to indicate that something is bad to do. The structure is:

Subj. + (很) 难 + [Sense Verb]

Examples

• 难吃Nánchī Not good/hard to eat
• 你 做 的 菜 很 难吃。Nǐ zuò de cài hěn nánchī. The dishes you cook taste bad.
• 难喝Nánhē Not good/hard to drink
• 这里 的 咖啡 很 难喝。Zhè lǐ de kāfēi hěn nánhē. The coffee here tastes bad.
• 难听Nántīng Sounds bad (hard to listen to)
• 这 首 歌 很 难听。Zhè shǒu gē hěn nántīng. This song is terrible (This song is hard to listen to).
• 难闻Nánwén Smells bad.
• 这 种 花 很 难闻。Zhè zhǒng huā hěn nánwén. This kind of flower smells bad.
• 难看Nánkàn Looks bad/ugly (hard to look at)
• 这 件 衣服 很 难看吗？Zhè jiàn yīfu hěn nánkàn ma? Is this article of clothing ugly?

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