Chinese–EnglishWith examples

痛苦

tòng kǔ · tong ku

Same in simplified and traditional Chinese

HSK 3Old HSK 5Measure word: 个 gè

Meaning

CC-CEDICT
  1. pain
  2. suffering
  3. painful
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In a conversation

0:21 cartoon

Tones are hard

  1. Leon

    学(xué)声调(shēngdiào)真(zhēn)痛苦(tòngkǔ)！

    Learning tones is so painful!

  2. Dengdeng

    怎么了(zěnmele)？

    What's wrong?

  3. Leon

    买(mǎi)和(hé)卖(mài)，我(wǒ)总是(zǒngshì)分不清(fēnbùqīng)。

    Buy and sell, I can never tell them apart.

  4. Liangliang

    学(xué)声调(shēngdiào)是(shì)有点(yǒudiǎn)痛苦(tòngkǔ)，但(dàn)慢慢(mànmàn)练(liàn)就(jiù)好(hǎo)。

    Learning tones is a bit painful, but slow practice will fix it.

  5. Leon

    昨天(zuótiān)我(wǒ)对(duì)老板(lǎobǎn)说(shuō)，我(wǒ)想(xiǎng)卖(mài)苹果(píngguǒ)！

    Yesterday I told the shop owner I wanted to sell apples! (I meant to buy.)

  6. Dengdeng

    老板(lǎobǎn)一定(yīdìng)很(hěn)高兴(gāoxìng)，有人(yǒurén)要(yào)给(gěi)他(tā)送(sòng)苹果(píngguǒ)！

    The owner must have been happy that someone wanted to give him apples!

Tap a word for its meaning in this line. The characters’ voices are computer-generated.

In a sentence

2 examples
01

这(zhè)名(míng)士(shì)兵(bīng)痛(tòng)苦(kǔ)地(de)呻(shēn)吟(yín)。

The soldier groaned with pain.

Tatoeba: Chinese by Martha · English by CK · CC BY 2.0 FR. Simplified Chinese conversion; Pinyin added or corrected.

02

我(wǒ)无(wú)法(fǎ)忍(rěn)受(shòu)这(zhè)个(ge)痛(tòng)苦(kǔ)。

I can't bear this pain.

Tatoeba: Chinese by egg0073 · English by CK · CC BY 2.0 FR. Simplified Chinese conversion; Pinyin added or corrected.

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How to write

Stroke order & practice

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Mainland China stroke order, including traditional characters. Drawing sources & licenses.

The characters

Explore individually
痛
tòng

ache; pain

苦
kǔ

bitter; hardship

Individual character meanings do not always explain the meaning of a whole word.

Definitions adapted from CC-CEDICT, published by MDBG and its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Pinyin display and entry grouping have been adapted.

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