HSK 4 · Emotions

难受 nánshòu “to feel unwell” in Chinese

Traditional 難受

What 难受 means

  1. to feel unwell
  2. to suffer pain
  3. to be difficult to bear

How to say 难受

  • 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 fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale受shòu4th tone, falling

难受 in a sentence

  1. 我生病了，很难受！

    Wǒ shēngbìng le, hěn nánshòu!

    I’m sick, and I feel awful!

    Sentence #2298641 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 我这两天感觉难受。

    Wǒ zhè liǎng tiān gǎnjué nánshòu.

    I’ve been feeling unwell for the last couple of days.

    Sentence #5958732 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 面包吃多了会难受的。

    Miànbāo chī duō le huì nánshòu de.

    Eating too much bread will make you feel sick.

    Sentence #13881232 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 难受 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 受 (shòu) with each of its parts in a different colour
受shòuto receive
  • 爫claw form of 爪 · zhǎo
  • 冖cover · mì
  • 又again · yòu

Memory aidOne hand 爫 passing something to another hand 又: to receive.

How to write 难受

难 10 strokes · 受 8 strokes

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

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

Words related to 难受

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难道nándào · don’t tell me …难免nánmiǎn · hard to avoid难怪nánguài · (it’s) no wonder (that…)艰难jiānnán · difficult

Words with 受

受shòu · to receive接受jiēshòu · to accept受到shòudào · to receive (praise受不了shòubùliǎo · unbearable受伤shòushāng · to be injured感受gǎnshòu · to feel承受chéngshòu · to bear享受xiǎngshòu · to enjoy遭受zāoshòu · to suffer忍受rěnshòu · to bear

More words: Emotions & Feelings

可怜kělián · pitiful可惜kěxī · it is a pity浪漫làngmàn · romantic麻烦máfan · trouble失败shībài · to fail失望shīwàng · disappointed受不了shòubùliǎo · unbearable态度tàidu · attitude

FAQs

难受 (nánshòu) means “to feel unwell” or “to suffer pain”. It is an HSK 4 word.
Say it nánshòu: nán with a 2nd tone, then shòu with a 4th 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, 难受 is written 難受. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type nanshou with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 难受 from the suggestions. Typing nanshou into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
难受 is an HSK 4 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.