HSK 4 · Emotions

可怜 kělián “pitiful” in Chinese

Traditional 可憐

What 可怜 means

  1. pitiful
  2. pathetic
  3. to have pity on

How to say 可怜

  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale可kě3rd tone, dipping
  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale怜lián2nd tone, rising

可怜 in a sentence

  1. 她照顾可怜的小鸟。

    Tā zhàogu kělián de xiǎoniǎo.

    She took care of the poor little bird.

    Sentence #5613613 from Tatoeba

  2. 我觉得她一点也不可怜。

    Wǒ juéde tā yìdiǎn yě bù kělián.

    I don’t think she’s pitiful at all.

    Sentence #10278322 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

  3. 可怜的猫。

    Kělián de māo.

    Poor cat!

    Sentence #4080215 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 可怜 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 可 (kě) with each of its parts in a different colour
可kěcan; may; able to; -able
  • 丁part of the characterMeaning part
  • 口mouth · kǒuSound part

Memory aidPicture a mouth 口 saying yes: can, may.

The character 怜 (lián) with each of its parts in a different colour
怜liánto pity
  • 忄heart form of 心 · xīnMeaning part
  • 令command · língSound part

忄 hints at the meaning (heart); 令 (líng) hints at the sound. Compare it with lián.

How to write 可怜

可 5 strokes · 怜 8 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

可怜 (kělián) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 可怜 (kělián). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 可怜

Words with 可

可以kěyǐ · can可能kěnéng · maybe可kě · but可爱kě'ài · cute可惜kěxī · it is a pity可是kěshì · but可靠kěkào · reliable可怕kěpà · awful可见kějiàn · it can clearly be seen (that this is the case)宁可nìngkě · preferably

More words: Emotions & Feelings

激动jīdòng · excited骄傲jiāo'ào · proud紧张jǐnzhāng · nervous开心kāixīn · to feel happy可惜kěxī · it is a pity浪漫làngmàn · romantic麻烦máfan · trouble难受nánshòu · to feel unwell

FAQs

可怜 (kělián) means “pitiful” or “pathetic”. It is an HSK 4 word.
Say it kělián: kě with a 3rd tone, then lián with a 2nd tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
In Traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, 可怜 is written 可憐. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type kelian with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 可怜 from the suggestions. Typing kelian into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
可怜 is an HSK 4 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

Turn words into conversations

A dictionary gives you the words. A native teacher shows you how to use them. Start with a free 30-minute intro call.

Book a free intro call

Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.