难

nán

difficult (to...)

problem; difficulty; difficult; not good

hand grasping (又) + bird (隹) = difficult

Trying to grab a bird with your bare hand — it flutters, escapes, resists. That struggle of reaching and failing is the root feeling of difficulty.

又+隹→难
又The right handSemantic
隹A short-tailed birdSemantic

这道题很难,我不会做。

zhè dào tí hěn nán, wǒ bù huì zuò。

This problem is very difficult; I don't know how to do it.

学好一门外语真的很难。

xué hǎo yī mén wàiyǔ zhēn de hěn nán。

It is really difficult to learn a foreign language well.

Words with 难

多灾多难

duō zāi duō nàn

to be plagued with misfortunes

为难

wéi nán

to feel embarrassed or awkward

强人所难

qiǎng rén suǒ nán

to force someone to do something

难以实现

nán yǐ shí xiàn

hard to accomplish

蒙难

méng nàn

to meet with disaster

难易

nán yì

difficulty

空难

kōng nàn

air crash

难忘

nán wàng

unforgettable

积重难返

jī zhòng nán fǎn

ingrained habits are hard to overcome (idiom); bad old practices die hard

苦难

kǔ nàn

suffering

难说

nán shuō

hard to tell (i.e. hard to judge or hard to predict)

万难

wàn nán

countless difficulties

More characters with 又

变发及仅侵丈