Difference between revisions of "Expressing "difficult" with "nan""

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* <em>难 懂</em> <span class="trans">Hard to understand.</span>
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* <em>难 懂</em><span class="pinyin"> Nán dǒng </span><span class="trans">Hard to understand.</span>
 
* 这 句 话 <em>很 难 懂</em> 。 <span class="pinyin">Zhè jù huà <em>hěn nán dǒng</em>.</span> <span class="trans">This talk is hard to understand.</span>
 
* 这 句 话 <em>很 难 懂</em> 。 <span class="pinyin">Zhè jù huà <em>hěn nán dǒng</em>.</span> <span class="trans">This talk is hard to understand.</span>
* <em>难 学</em> <span class="trans">Hard to learn.</span>
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* <em>难 学</em><span class="pinyin">Nán xué</span> <span class="trans">Hard to learn.</span>
 
* 汉语 <em>很 难 学</em> 。 <span class="pinyin">Hànyǔ <em>hěn nán xué</em>.</span> <span class="trans">Mandarin is hard to learn.</span>
 
* 汉语 <em>很 难 学</em> 。 <span class="pinyin">Hànyǔ <em>hěn nán xué</em>.</span> <span class="trans">Mandarin is hard to learn.</span>
* <em>难 做</em> <span class="trans">Hard to do.</span>
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* <em>难 做</em><span class="pinyin">Nán zuò </span> <span class="trans">Hard to do.</span>
 
* 三明治 <em>很 难 做</em> 。 <span class="pinyin">Sān míng zhì <em>hěn nán zuò</em>.</span> <span class="trans">Sandwiches are hard to make.</span>
 
* 三明治 <em>很 难 做</em> 。 <span class="pinyin">Sān míng zhì <em>hěn nán zuò</em>.</span> <span class="trans">Sandwiches are hard to make.</span>
* <em>难 买</em> <span class="trans">Hard to buy (as in probably hard to find).</span>
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* <em>难 买</em><span class="pinyin">Nán mǎi</span> <span class="trans">Hard to buy (as in probably hard to find).</span>
 
* 这 个 东西 现在 <em>很 难 买</em> 。 <span class="pinyin">Zhè gè dōngxī xiànzài <em>hěn nán mǎi</em>.</span> <span class="trans">This thing is really difficult to purchase now.</span>
 
* 这 个 东西 现在 <em>很 难 买</em> 。 <span class="pinyin">Zhè gè dōngxī xiànzài <em>hěn nán mǎi</em>.</span> <span class="trans">This thing is really difficult to purchase now.</span>
* <em>难 写</em> <span class="trans">Difficult to write.</span>
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* <em>难 写</em><span class="pinyin">Nán xiě</span> <span class="trans">Difficult to write.</span>
 
*这 个 汉字 很 <em> 难 写</em> 。 <span class="pinyin">Zhè gè hànzì hěn <em> nán xiě</em>.</span> <span class="trans">This character is very difficult to write.</span>
 
*这 个 汉字 很 <em> 难 写</em> 。 <span class="pinyin">Zhè gè hànzì hěn <em> nán xiě</em>.</span> <span class="trans">This character is very difficult to write.</span>
  

Revision as of 12:04, 28 October 2014

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:

Subject + (很) 难 + Verb

Examples

  • 难 懂 Nán dǒng Hard to understand.
  • 这 句 话 很 难 懂Zhè jù huà hěn nán dǒng. This talk 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.
  • 三明治 很 难 做Sān míng zhì hěn nán zuò. Sandwiches are 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 gè 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 gè 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:

Subject + (很) 难 + [Sense Verb]

Examples

  • 难听Sounds bad(hard to listen to).
  • 这 首 歌 很 难听This song is terrible (This song is hard to listen to).
  • 难闻Smells bad. (it stinks)
  • 这 只 小 猫 很 难闻This little cat smells bad.
  • 难看Hard to look at (looks bad/ugly).
  • 这 件 衣服 很 难看吗?Is this piece of clothing ugly?
  • 难吃Disgusting (hard to eat).
  • 你 做的菜 很 难吃The dishes you cook taste bad.

See also

Sources and further reading

Books