HSK 4 · Emotions

烦恼 fánnǎo “to be worried” in Chinese

Traditional 煩惱

What 烦恼 means

  1. to be worried
  2. to be distressed
  3. worries

How to say 烦恼

  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale烦fán2nd tone, rising
  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale恼nǎo3rd tone, dipping

烦恼 in a sentence

  1. 现在有什么烦恼的事情吗？

    Xiànzài yǒu shénme fánnǎo de shìqing ma?

    Is there anything that worries you right now?

    Sentence #4147177 from Tatoeba

  2. 生活中的烦恼在所难免。

    Shēnghuó zhōng de fánnǎo zàisuǒnánmiǎn.

    The troubles of life are inevitable.

    Sentence #6291557 from Tatoeba

  3. 你有这烦恼多久了？

    Nǐ yǒu zhè fánnǎo duōjiǔ le?

    How long have you been worried about this?

    Sentence #10510869 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

How 烦恼 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 烦 (fán) with each of its parts in a different colour
烦fánto feel vexed
  • 火fire · huǒMeaning part
  • 页page · xiéSound part

火 hints at the meaning (fire); 页 (xié) hints at the sound. Compare it with fán.

The character 恼 (nǎo) with each of its parts in a different colour
恼nǎoto get angry
  • 忄heart form of 心 · xīnMeaning part
  • 亠lid · tóu
  • 凶culprit · xiōng

How to write 烦恼

烦 10 strokes · 恼 9 strokes

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

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

Words related to 烦恼

Words with 烦

麻烦máfan · trouble不耐烦bùnàifán · impatient

Words with 恼

恼火nǎohuǒ · annoyed

More words: Emotions & Feelings

吃惊chījīng · to be startled得意déyì · proud of oneself感动gǎndòng · to be moved感情gǎnqíng · emotion害羞hàixiū · shy后悔hòuhuǐ · to regret幸福xìngfú · happiness愉快yúkuài · cheerful

FAQs

烦恼 (fánnǎo) means “to be worried” or “to be distressed”. It is an HSK 4 word.
Say it fánnǎo: fán with a 2nd tone, then nǎo with a 3rd 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, 烦恼 is written 煩惱. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type fannao with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 烦恼 from the suggestions. Typing fannao into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
烦恼 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.