What does 可怜 mean in Chinese?

可怜 (kě lián) means "pitiful; pathetic; to have pity on" in Chinese. It is an HSK Level 5 word.

How do you pronounce 可怜?

可怜 is pronounced "kě lián" in Mandarin Chinese. It is made up of 2 syllables.

可怜 is an HSK Level 5 word (HSK 2.0: Level 4, HSK 3.0: Level 5).

可怜 is made up of the characters 可, 怜. Each character has its own meaning and can appear in other words.

You can practice writing 可怜 using our stroke order tool.

可怜

kě lián

pitiful; pathetic; to have pity on

Traditional: 可憐

他很可怜。

Tā hěn kělián

He is poor

HSK 2.0: Level 4HSK 3.0: Level 5

Reviewed by RJ Murray, Founder, HSK Lord.