艰苦

艱苦

jiānkǔ

adjective HSK 5 #7,226

Meanings

1 difficult; hard; arduous
2 tough (conditions); harsh

Characters

difficult; hard

bitter; suffering

Difficult and bitter — describing harsh conditions one endures.

Examples

那时候生活条件很艰苦。

Nàshíhou shēnghuó tiáojiàn hěn jiānkǔ.

Living conditions were very harsh back then.

他们在艰苦的环境下工作。

Tāmen zài jiānkǔ de huánjìng xià gōngzuò.

They work in harsh conditions.

艰苦奋斗是成功的基础。

Jiānkǔfèndòu shì chénggōng de jīchǔ.

Hard struggle is the foundation of success.

Tips

usage

艰苦 describes external conditions that are tough (environment, life, work). Compare with 艰难 (jiānnán), which describes difficulty of a task or situation. 艰苦奋斗 (arduous struggle) is a famous political slogan in China.

Stroke Order

艰 jiān

苦 kǔ