Writing
艰苦 (jiān kǔ) — how to say "hard" in Chinese
艰苦
Hard, arduous (conditions)
adjective
Character composition
艰
difficult
苦
bitter, hard
Radicals / Keys
艸
Grass
#140 · cǎo · 6 strokes
艮
Stopping
#138 · gēn · 6 strokes
Synonyms
Collocations
艰苦生活
jiān kǔ shēng huó
hard life
艰苦条件
jiān kǔ tiáo jiàn
harsh conditions
艰苦奋斗
jiān kǔ fèn dòu
arduous struggle
Examples
爷爷年轻时经历过战争年代的艰苦生活。
Grandpa experienced the hard life of the war years when he was young.
生活艰苦
Hard life.
Frequently asked questions
Hard in Chinese meaning
"hard" in Chinese is 艰苦 (jiān kǔ).
艰苦 meaning in English
艰苦 (jiān kǔ) means "Hard, arduous (conditions)".
How is 艰苦 pronounced?
It is pronounced jiān kǔ (written as jian ku, jianku). You can listen to the pronunciation on this page.
Hard in Chinese characters
It is written 艰苦: 艰 has 8 strokes, 苦 has 8 strokes. The Writing section above animates the stroke order of each character and lets you trace it.
What HSK level is 艰苦?
艰苦 belongs to the HSK 5 vocabulary list.
Tomyo
Learn Chinese words with spaced repetition
Add 艰苦 to your vocabulary and remember it with smart reviews, audio and examples.