灾难 (zāinàn): disaster; catastrophe

Measure Word

一场灾难 chǎng

Meanings

1 disaster; catastrophe
2 calamity; suffering

Characters

difficulty; hardship; disaster

Disaster and hardship combined — catastrophic suffering.

Examples

战争给人民带来了巨大的灾难。

Zhànzhēng gěi rénmín dàilái le jùdà de zāinàn.

War brought enormous suffering to the people.

这是一场前所未有的灾难。

Zhè shì yì chǎng qián suǒ wèi yǒu de zāinàn.

This is an unprecedented catastrophe.

灾难面前，人们互相帮助。

Zāinàn miànqián, rénmen hùxiāng bāngzhù.

In the face of disaster, people help each other.

Tips

usage

灾难片 (zāinàn piàn) means 'disaster movie' — a common film genre term. 灾难性 (zāinàn xìng) means 'catastrophic' as an adjective.

Stroke Order

灾 zāi

难 nán

Related Words

灾 zāi HSK 5 #10,196

disaster; calamity / misfortune; adversity

火灾 huǒzāi HSK 5 #3,491

fire (disaster); conflagration

艰难 jiānnán HSK 5 #2,157

difficult; hard; challenging / arduous; trying

难以 nányǐ HSK 5 #2,022

hard to; difficult to / unable to easily (do something)

为难 wéinán HSK 5 #6,637

to feel embarrassed / to make things difficult for / to be in a dilemma

难得 nándé HSK 5 #6,692

seldom / rare / hard to come by

灾害 zāihài HSK 5 #21,146

calamity; disaster (especially natural) / plague; scourge

灾区 zāiqū HSK 5 #31,337

disaster area; disaster zone

遇难 yùnàn HSK 7 #10,187

to die in a disaster / to perish / to be killed (in an accident or calamity)

受灾 shòuzāi HSK 5 #33,269

to be disaster-stricken / to suffer a disaster