Expressing "difficult" with "nan"

难 (nán) is an adjective that means "difficult." 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

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Zhōngguócài hěn nán zuò. Chinese food is hard to make.
  • 这 个 东西 现在 很 难 买Zhè ge dōngxī xiànzài hěn nán mǎi. This thing is really difficult to purchase now.
  • 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

  • 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?

See also

Sources and further reading

Books