HSK 5 · Function Words

难免 nánmiǎn “hard to avoid” in Chinese

Traditional 難免

What 难免 means

  1. hard to avoid
  2. bound to happen
  3. difficult to escape from
  4. will inevitably

How to say 难免

  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale难nán2nd tone, rising
  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale免miǎn3rd tone, dipping

难免 in a sentence

  1. 事情难免会发生。

    Shìqing nánmiǎn huì fāshēng.

    These things are bound to happen.

    Sentence #5092383 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  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

How 难免 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 难 (nán) with each of its parts in a different colour
难nándifficult
  • 又again · yòu
  • 隹short-tailed bird · zhuī

Memory aidPicture a hand 又 trying to catch a bird 隹: difficult.

The character 免 (miǎn) with each of its parts in a different colour
免miǎnto excuse sb
  • ⺈knife form of 刀 · dāo
  • 口mouth · kǒu
  • 儿legs · ér

How to write 难免

难 10 strokes · 免 7 strokes

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

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

Words related to 难免

Words with 难

难nán · difficult难过nánguò · be grieved难题nántí · difficult problem难看nánkàn · ugly难听nántīng · unpleasant to hear困难kùnnan · difficult难受nánshòu · to feel unwell难道nándào · don’t tell me …难怪nánguài · (it’s) no wonder (that…)艰难jiānnán · difficult

Words with 免

免费miǎnfèi · free (of charge)避免bìmiǎn · to avoid免疫miǎnyì · immunity不免bùmiǎn · inevitably免得miǎnde · so as not to未免wèimiǎn · rather以免yǐmiǎn · so as not to

More words: Function Words & Grammar

连忙liánmáng · promptly临时línshí · temporary陆续lùxù · in turn某mǒu · some哪怕nǎpà · even难怪nánguài · (it’s) no wonder (that…)宁可nìngkě · preferably偶然ǒurán · incidentally

FAQs

难免 (nánmiǎn) means “hard to avoid” or “bound to happen”. It is an HSK 5 word.
Say it nánmiǎn: nán with a 2nd tone, then miǎn 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, 难免 is written 難免. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type nanmian with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 难免 from the suggestions. Typing nanmian into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
难免 is an HSK 5 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

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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.