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

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* 这 首 歌 <em>很 难听</em>。 <span class="pinyin">Zhè shǒu gē <em>hěn nántīng</em>.</span> <span class="trans">This song is terrible (This song is hard to listen to).</span>
 
* 这 首 歌 <em>很 难听</em>。 <span class="pinyin">Zhè shǒu gē <em>hěn nántīng</em>.</span> <span class="trans">This song is terrible (This song is hard to listen to).</span>
 
* <em>难闻</em><span class="pinyin">Nánwén </span> <span class="trans">Smells bad.</span>
 
* <em>难闻</em><span class="pinyin">Nánwén </span> <span class="trans">Smells bad.</span>
* 这 种 花 <em>很 难闻</em>。 <span class="pinyin">Zhè zhǐ xiǎo māo <em>hěn nánwén</em>.</span> <span class="trans">This little cat smells bad.</span>
+
* 这 种 花 <em>很 难闻</em>。 <span class="pinyin">Zhè zhǒng huā <em>hěn nánwén</em>.</span> <span class="trans">This kind of flower smells bad.</span>
 
* <em>难看</em><span class="pinyin">Nánkàn </span> <span class="trans">Looks bad/ugly (hard to look at)</span>
 
* <em>难看</em><span class="pinyin">Nánkàn </span> <span class="trans">Looks bad/ugly (hard to look at)</span>
 
* 这 件 衣服 <em>很 难看</em>吗? <span class="pinyin">Zhè jiàn yīfu <em>hěn nánkàn</em> ma?</span> <span class="trans">Is this article of clothing ugly?</span>
 
* 这 件 衣服 <em>很 难看</em>吗? <span class="pinyin">Zhè jiàn yīfu <em>hěn nánkàn</em> ma?</span> <span class="trans">Is this article of clothing ugly?</span>

Revision as of 02:56, 14 October 2015

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 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.
  • 中国菜 很 难 做Zhōngguócài hěn nán zuò. Chinese 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 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?
  • 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
  • 这家店 的 咖啡 很 难喝Zhè jiā diàn de kāfēi nánhē. The coffee at this shop is bad.

See also

Sources and further reading

Books