千辛万苦

千辛萬苦

qiānxīn-wànkǔ

idiom #24,895

Meanings

1 to suffer untold hardships
2 to go through great trials and tribulations
3 with enormous effort and difficulty

Characters

hardship/pungent

suffering/bitter

Examples

HSK 5

经过千辛万苦，他们终于到达了目的地。

Jīngguò qiānxīnwànkǔ, tāmen zhōngyú dàodá le mùdìdì.

After enormous hardships, they finally reached their destination.

HSK 7-9

他千辛万苦地把孩子抚养成人。

Tā qiānxīnwànkǔ de bǎ háizi fǔyǎng chéngrén.

He raised the child through countless hardships.

Tips

memory

Remember it as '1000 hardships (辛), 10,000 sufferings (苦).' 千 (thousand) and 万 (ten thousand) are hyperbolic numbers that appear in many Chinese idioms to mean 'countless.' 辛 and 苦 are near-synonyms both meaning hardship/bitterness.

Stroke Order

千 qiān

辛 xīn

万 wàn

苦 kǔ