Expressing "difficult" with "nan"

Structure with verbs

Just as 好 can be used to indicate that it's easy to do something, 难 (nán) can be attached to verbs,except sensitive words (like:look, taste, smell, sound and so on. ) to indicate that something is hard to do or bad to do. The structure is:

Subject +（很）难 + Verb

Examples

• 难懂
• 这 句 话 很 难懂。
• 难学
• 汉语 很 难学。
• 难做
• 我 的 工作 很 难做。
• 难买
• 这 个 东西 现在 很 难买。

Structure with Sensitive Verbs

难 (nán) can also be attached to sensitive verbs ( like:look, taste, smell, sound and so on) to indicate that something is bad to do. The structure is:

Subject +（很）难 + Sensitive Verb

Examples

• 难听
• 这 首 歌 很 难听。
• 难闻
• 洗手 间 很 难闻。
• 难看
• 这 件 衣服 很 难看吗？
• 难吃
• 你 做的菜 很 难吃。

See also

• Easy to do something
• Expressing Difficulty with "hao (bu) rongyi"

Sources and further reading

Books

• Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Part 2 (pp. 233) →buy