艰苦
Old HSK 5
艰苦 (jiānkǔ) · hard
艰苦 (jiānkǔ) means “hard; difficult; tough”. It is written with 2 characters: 艰 (difficult) + 苦 (bitter). It is an old HSK 5 word (HSK 2.0).
How 艰苦 is built
The characters
艰 jiān · difficult
What 艰 is made of
- 又yòu — and
- 艮gěn — blunt
苦 kǔ · bitter
What 苦 is made of
- 艹cǎo — grass
- 古gǔ — ancient
- 十 — ten
- 一 — horizontal stroke
- 丨 — vertical stroke
- 口kǒu — mouth
- 冂 — frame
- 一 — horizontal stroke
- 十 — ten
Origin hint: 艹 gives the meaning, 古 gives the sound. (from the Make Me a Hanzi dataset; treat as a memory aid where history is uncertain)
Example sentences
他们在艰苦的条件下工作。Tāmen zài jiānkǔ de tiáojiàn xià gōngzuò.They work under tough conditions.
那几年的生活很艰苦。Nà jǐ nián de shēnghuó hěn jiānkǔ.Life was very hard in those years.
Questions about 艰苦
What does 艰苦 mean?
艰苦 (jiānkǔ) means “hard; difficult; tough”.
How do you pronounce 艰苦?
艰苦 is pronounced jiānkǔ.
Which HSK level is 艰苦?
艰苦 is in Old HSK 5.
Related words
- 艰巨jiānjùarduous
- 艰难jiānnándifficult
- 痛苦tòngkǔpain
- 辛苦xīnkǔhard
- 刻苦kèkǔhardworking
- 吃苦chīkǔto endure hardship
- 苦尽甘来kǔjìngānláiafter hardship comes happiness
- 苦涩kǔsèbitter
- 苦kǔbitter
Learn 艰苦 with its group
It is part of Old HSK 5 · Group 48: a short group with quick checks and spaced repeats.