What does 难 mean in Chinese?

难 (nán) means "difficult" in Chinese. The new HSK exam expects you to recognise it at HSK 3.

How do you write 难?

难 is written with 10 strokes, starting from the 又 (again) radical and following standard Chinese stroke order (top to bottom, left to right). See the interactive stroke-order tool for the full animation.

What is the radical of 难?

The radical of 难 is 又 (again, Kangxi radical #29). Other common HSK characters using the same radical include 发, 受, 变, 友.

How many strokes does 难 have?

The Chinese character 难 has 10 strokes.

What HSK level is 难?

On the new HSK exam syllabus, 难 is a character to recognise at HSK 3 and to write by hand at HSK 3.

难 (nán): Meaning, Stroke Order, Radical & Examples

难

nán

difficult

HSK 3 character 10 strokes Radical: 又 (again)

Quick Answer

难 (nán) means "difficult" with 10 strokes, radical 又 (again), HSK 3 on the new exam.

Full dictionary entry for 难 →Animated stroke-order for 难 →

Pronunciation

nán

Meaning

Primary: difficult

Etymology

Oracle-bone origin

难 (traditional 難) is a phono-semantic compound. The right side 隹 (zhuī) depicts a short-tailed bird and provides the semantic category, while the left component in the traditional form (堇) supplied the phonetic. The bird element is the visible pictographic piece, showing a side-on bird with beak, body, and legs.

Form evolution

In bronze and seal script the character was written 難 with 堇 on the left and 隹 on the right. Clerical script regularized the strokes of both components. The modern simplified form 难 replaces the complex left element with 又 (a hand), a generic simplification mark that carries no semantic meaning here; the 隹 on the right is preserved.

How the meaning evolved

The earliest attested meaning referred to a specific kind of bird, but this sense was quickly displaced. By the classical period 难 was used almost exclusively for the borrowed meaning 'difficult' or 'hard to do', likely a phonetic loan. A second reading nàn, meaning calamity or disaster (as in 难民, refugee), developed from the same root.

Cultural note

The idiom 难能可贵 (nánnéngkěguì), 'difficult to achieve and therefore precious', uses 难 in its core adjectival sense. Beginners often miss that 难 has two tones: nán for 'difficult' (很难) and nàn for 'disaster' (灾难, 难民), and the tone shift changes the meaning entirely.

Mnemonic

Grabbing a bird again — difficult

Decomposition

难=又radical+隹component

Breaking a character into its components makes it far easier to recall. Each component above links to its own detail page.

Basic info

Pinyin	nán
Meanings	difficult
Stroke count	10 strokes
Radical	又 (#29: again)
New HSK exam	Recognise at HSK 3, write by hand at HSK 3
Frequency	#291 most common

Example sentences

这很难。
Zhè hěn nán.
This is very difficult.
From 难 (HSK 3)
我很难过。
Wǒ hěn nánguò.
I'm very sad.
From 难过 (HSK 3)
我很难受。
Wǒ hěn nánshòu.
I'm very uncomfortable.
From 难受 (HSK 4)

Words containing 难

Word	Pinyin	Meaning	HSK
难	nán	difficult	HSK 3
难过	nánguò	sad	HSK 3
困难	kùnnan	difficulty	HSK 4
难道	nándào	could it be said that …	HSK 4
难受	nánshòu	Uncomfortable	HSK 4
难免	nánmiǎn	Unavoidable	HSK 6
难怪	nánguài	no wonder	HSK 7-9
刁难	diāonàn	to create difficulties	HSK 7-9