很难说

很難說

hěnnánshuō

phrase HSK 6 #6,304

Meanings

HSK 1

明天会不会下雨？很难说。

Míngtiān huì búhuì xiàyǔ? Hěnnánshuō.

Will it rain tomorrow? Hard to say.

HSK 3

他到底是好人还是坏人，很难说。

Tā dàodǐ shì hǎorén háishì huàirén, hěnnánshuō.

Whether he's a good person or bad person is hard to say.

HSK 6

这项投资将来能不能赚钱，还很难说。

Zhè xiàng tóuzī jiānglái néng bù néng zhuànqián, hái hěnnánshuō.

Whether this investment will make money in the future is really hard to say.

grammar

很难说 follows the pattern 很难 + verb, meaning 'hard to [verb].' Other examples: 很难做 (hard to do), 很难懂 (hard to understand), 很难找 (hard to find).

usage

很难说 is a polite way to express uncertainty or to avoid giving a direct opinion. It's commonly used as a standalone reply to dodge a question.

Very natural in both spoken and written Chinese. In more formal contexts, you might hear 难以断言 (nán yǐ duànyán) instead.

很 hěn

难 nán

说 shuō