痛苦

Character by character

• 痛tòng12 strokesHSK 3pain, ache; sorry, sad; bitter
• 苦kǔ9 strokesHSK 3bitter; hardship, suffering

Each character links to its stroke order page with a tracing and a writing exercise.

Example sentences

• 我知道你有痛苦。

  Wǒ zhī dào nǐ yǒu tòng kǔ

  We know you're in pain.

  Listen

Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR), contributed by their community.

Words with the same characters

These words share at least one character with 痛苦. Reading them together is how the character starts to stick — the same characters in a different context.

• 痛tòngHSK 3

  ache; pain; sorrow; deeply; thoroughly

• 苦kǔHSK 4

  bitter; hardship; pain; to suffer; to bring suffering to; painstakingly

• 辛苦xīn kǔHSK 5

  exhausting; hard; tough; arduous; to work hard; to go to a lot of trouble; hardship(s)

• 疼痛téng tòngHSK 6

  pain; (of a body part) to be painful; to be sore; to hurt; (of a person) to be in pain

• 艰苦jiān kǔHSK 5

  difficult; hard; arduous

• 痛快tòng kuàiHSK 4

  delighted; to one's heart's content; straightforward; also pr. [tòng kuai]

• 苦难kǔ nànHSK 7

  suffering

• 悲痛bēi tòngHSK 7

  grieved; sorrowful

• 苦恼kǔ nǎoHSK 7

  vexed; distressed

• 刻苦kè kǔHSK 7

  hardworking; assiduous

• 受苦shòu kǔHSK 7

  to suffer hardship

• 痛心tòng xīnHSK 7

  grieved; pained

• 惨痛cǎn tòngHSK 7

  bitter; painful; deeply distressed

• 挖苦wā kǔHSK 7

  to speak sarcastically; to make cutting remarks; also pr. [wā ku]

• 苦练kǔ liànHSK 7

  to train hard; to practice diligently; hard work; blood, sweat, and tears

• 何苦hé kǔHSK 7

  why bother?; is it worth the trouble?

• 吃苦chī kǔHSK 7

  to bear hardships

• 诉苦sù kǔHSK 7

  to grumble; to complain; grievance

• 苦力kǔ lìHSK 7

  bitter work; hard toil; (loanword) coolie, unskilled Chinese laborer in colonial times

• 苦笑kǔ xiàoHSK 7

  to force a smile; a bitter laugh

• 苦心kǔ xīnHSK 7

  painstaking effort; to take a lot of trouble; laborious at pains

• 艰苦奋斗jiān kǔ fèn dòuHSK 7

  to struggle arduously

• 酸甜苦辣suān tián kǔ làHSK 5

  sour, sweet, bitter and spicy hot; fig. the joys and sorrows of life

• 愁眉苦脸chóu méi kǔ liǎnHSK 7

  to look anxious (idiom); to look miserable